Kevin Clifton and Karen Hauer are starring in Flash Mob at the New Theatre

Kevin Clifton and Karen Hauer are at home when we catch up, taking a rare day off from their hectic schedule to kick back and relax, a world away from dancing and Strictly which dominates their every move.

Together both personally and professionally, Karen admits that they never really get away from their overriding love and passion for ballroom dancing even when they go out for dinner or watch TV together: “We’ll be watching Sherlock and one of us will say, ‘maybe we could work that into a routine’, and then we’ll be off,” they laugh.

That the pair are madly in love is evident, finishing each other’s sentences, and happy to spend every waking moment together, both on and off stage, even if it is an odd coupling, Kevin hailing from Grimsby and Karen from the more exotic shores of Venezuela.

A couple before Strictly came along, Kevin being a newcomer last season, Karen the year before, you can even watch him proposing on stage on YouTube, after a performance with dance company Burn The Floor.

“I didn’t think the video would go viral,” Kevin says abashed.

Currently touring the country with new dance show Flash Mob, which boasts the stars of TV dance shows headlined by the Strictly Come Dancing duo as well as World Street Dance champions Flawless from Britain’s Got Talent, Olivier-nominated Tommy Franzen (BBC1’s So You Think You Can Dance), contemporary duo Alleviate and Irish fusion duo Brosena from Sky 1’s Got To Dance, the pair will be at the New Theatre tomorrow night.

“Yes, this is a rare day off because we’ve been pretty busy since Strictly finished, with the Strictly tour and then the Burn The Floor tour of Japan and Australia, now Flash Mob and then it will be back to Strictly. But we don’t really like rests. We’d rather keep working. I always find if you take time off, when you get back in the dance studio you feel awful. It’s better to just keep dancing,” Kevin explains.

“You feel left out when you’re not there,” Karen agrees. “We are always researching and coming up with new ideas and routines. You have to keep developing as dancers or you get tired,” Karen agrees.

So does dancing with amateurs on Strictly hold them back? “No, because by choreographing routines around the abilities of your celebrity partners it really shows what you can do and pushes you even harder in terms of choreography,” Kevin says.

“But it was worse when Karen was in Strictly before I joined because I would get so nervous for her. Karen was fine of course.”

So how was the reality? ”It’s one thing watching and another doing the live shows, and you don’t realise until you’re in it how many millions of people not only watch Strictly but care and have opinions about how you dance.

“But Len Goodman gave me the best piece of advice, he said even when it gets hard, because it’s not all roses and can be stressful, never get bitter because if it wasn’t for Strictly we’d all be teaching, and for that he thanks his lucky stars every day. If it wasn’t for Strictly I wouldn’t be sat here talking to you.”

Does Karen feel the same? “Yes, Strictly is such a feelgood family show and everyone here is so into it,” she smiles, “from young people to old, and that makes you want to work harder and give the audience even more to satisfy their Strictly cravings.”

So tell me about Flash Mob. “It’s great and really challenging because we demonstrate our own set of dance skills but then have several group numbers which we choreograph together and it works perfectly, we really rub off on each other,” Keven explains So will we see him breakdancing in Strictly as a result? “God no,” he laughs, “He does a mean robot,” Karen teases. “Let’s just say it’s a really creative way to work and pushes you even further as a dancer,” she smiles.

Despite their punishing work shedule, the loved-up duo never feel that they are living in each other’s pockets.

“You’d think we’d drive each other insane, living and working together, but we really enjoy it,” Kevin says.

“We clicked from day one and were in a relationship long before we were dancing together, even though it’s normally the other way around.”

But with Kevin’s sister Joanna joining the Strictly 2014 line-up Kevin’s going to be outnumbered. So how does he feel about that? “We used to dance together in competitions when we were growing up but when we became teenagers decided it was too weird so my sister did the ballroom and I did the Latin competitions. Strictly will be the first time we’ve competed against each other. And if I get beaten by Karen and my sister my career could be ruined,” he jokes.

Off stage though, Karen and he must get some downtime? “When we’re not dancing we like to stay home because it’s the one thing we never get to do,” Kevin explains. “I like to cook,” Karen offers, “so we eat dinner and drink wine and watch TV and relax because our lives are so hectic the rest of the time. I suppose were quite boring really.” As if.

SEE IT
Flash Mob comes to the New Theatre tomorrow night. Call the box office on 0844 871 3020 or see atgtickets.com/oxford