Where to See the North East Strictly Come Dancing Cast on Tour
The tour dates and dances for the hotly anticipated Strictly Come Dancing Live Tour have been announced
Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, George Clarke, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbank, Ellie Goldstein, and previous contestant Layton Williams will join Teessider La Voix, Lewis Cope from Hartlepool and Geordie favourite Vicky Pattison. The tour will head to Utilita Arena Newcastle on 27th and 28th January, First Direct Bank Arena Leeds on 29th and 30th January and Utilita Arena Sheffield on 3rd and 4th February.
La Voix sadly had to withdraw from the main show when she injured her foot before Blackpool, and she can’t wait to have fun with her old sparring partner Craig, who claimed she’d taken the show ‘to a whole new level of camp’.
‘Oh please, has he not looked in the mirror? I mean, he’s sat next to Shirley and Motsi on the series, who just look fabulously all turned out and then he's sat there like he's never taken the makeup off from being Miss Hannigan. So it's just camp, camp, camp. I love it,’ she quips. She’s pulling out all the stops to make sure she’s fighting fit for the tour. ‘I’ve been doing my rehab and they’ve given me a lower heel to make it easier,’ she says. ‘This is the only time you’ll see La Voix in a frumpy heel, but it’s what I’ve got to do!’ La Voix and Aljaž Škorjanec will perform their Paso Doble and Salsa on tour.
Former Emmerdale star Lewis Cope was eliminated from the competition in the quarter finals but he’s excited to be stepping back into his dancing shoes.’I’m so happy because I’ve really missed dancing over these last few weeks,’ he says. ‘But I am feeling a bit rusty. I would be lying if I said I haven’t been watching our dances on YouTube every single day to remind myself! We had so much fun on the show that now this tour feels like a celebration, we can go out there every night and not worry about whether this is our last dance together. We know what we’re doing, how many shows we’ve got and we can just really enjoy it and have fun with everyone else.’ Lewis and Katya Jones will be performing their Charleston and their Halloween-inspired Couple’s Choice routine which scored 40 points from the judges.
Vicky Pattison is particularly looking forward to performing at home in Newcastle. With her pro partner Kai Widdrington she’ll be performing her Tango and her Cheryl-inspired Couple’s Choice. ‘I am positively buzzing like an old fridge to be going to Newcastle,’ she says. ‘I am so proud to be from the North East, so proud to be a Geordie. And I’ve grown up going to the arena. I grew up going to see Craig David there, Boyzone there, I went with my mum to see Simply Red there. It’s been so many lovely moments of my childhood and my adult life as an auntie too when I took my niece to go and see Disney on Ice there, so it’s incredible to be going back there and actually performing myself. A moment, quite frankly, that I never, ever thought would be mine. And it probably never will be again. So I’m taking it very seriously, I’m gonna put on the absolute best show that I can for all of the Geordies!’
Audiences can also expect group choreographies, new arena-specific numbers and a full company of professional dancers including Julian Caillon, Neil Jones, Jake Leigh, Luba Mushtuk, Michelle Tsiakkas, and Nancy Xu.
