Strictly Come Dancing's Brendan Cole comes to Oxford for A Night To Remember

Brendan Cole is a Strictly Come Dancing man through and through. Cut him in half and he’d have the BBC logo running straight through him.

In from day one, he is the longest serving professional, alongside Anton du Beke, and his enthusiasm for the flagship Saturday night dance show shows no sign of abating.

But once the Christmas finale wrapped up, the 39 year-old had a quick breather with his family, and was back to work with his new tour A Night To Remember, coming to Oxford’s New Theatre on Wednesday.

We caught up last year when Brendan was busy rehearsing with Abi Clancy for the Christmas special, his only available slot before the tour kicked off and, as such, he was rather distracted.

“You never know what your schedule is going to be Monday to Sunday so it is hard to schedule things in,” he admits.

“And when I was with Kirsty [Gallacher, his 2015 Strictly partner] she had a day job as well, so it was difficult. So when I’m not working it’s family time and I try to make the most of it.”

Married to British model Zoe Hobbs, the couple have a three year-old daughter Aurelia, and live on the Oxfordshire border near Aylesbury.

“I can’t wait to come to Oxford because it’s the closest and I feel like part of the community there.” So will Aurelia see her daddy perform on stage?

“She’s not old enough to come to the show yet but she knows I’m on Strictly and it’s very sweet to see her developing.”

Is it hard being away from home then? “The tour is pretty full on but it’s what I love doing and what I get most excited about. It’s where my heart lies.”

Now in its second year, this is Brendan’s third dance production. So what can we expect? “It’s a real mix of ballroom, Latin and tango and never a dull moment. It’s a big show.

“And, of course, there are always expectations, so it should be the best thing you’ve ever done, which is why each show takes such a long time to create and why I’m always thinking about the next one, because just putting it together takes up most of a year.”

So is there a narrative?

“Not as such, but we have eight professional dancers and 14 phenomenal musicians and continually adapt the show to keep it new and fresh.”

Brendan Cole puts a lot of pressure on himself then as a husband, father, TV star and entertainer, so why go full out?

“You know what?” the Kiwi asked me. “I don’t feel the need to prove myself any more. I just go along and enjoy it, knowing that the product is good because the audience gets as excited as we do. I have proved myself on Strictly for the past 13 years and of course it’s always a challenge to come up with new stuff, but while I don’t want to sound arrogant, I am content with where I am. It’s hard to put into words. Put it this way, if you’d told me 15 years ago what I’d be doing, I’d never have believed you.”

Brendan came to the UK aged 18 to dance. He was eighth in the world when Strictly came along and the New Zealander saw it as an exciting opportunity, if a risk.

“Strictly has been very successful and I’ve had a great run. But its also a lot of pressure. But whatever I ended up doing I would do it like a lunatic, because whether it was working on a building site or dancing, I’m very driven and ambitious. I always want to be the best, to give my family some financial security and I can’t sit down, not for a minute.

So who does he support in the rugby?

“I’m a Kiwi through and through. The World Cup finals were on during Strictly so I had to watch what I could between dress rehearsals,” he howls. “But ultimately it’s about the dancing and the show does what it says on the tin – it’s A Night To Remember.”

SEE IT
Brendan Cole comes to the New Theatre on Wednesday, February 3, in A Night To Remember. Box office on atgtickets.com/oxford or 0844 8713020