Angela Rippon's Strictly diary: 'The thought of being cut free with a hacksaw didn’t appeal'
Well, I’m still in shock! I’m still both glowing and recovering from the score that Craig Revel Horwood gave our Charleston. A nine! Only the second time in seven years that he has scored higher than his three companion judges. And to top it with the comment that I had given a “swivel masterclass” just left me speechless. Especially as the Hallowe’en theme had produced a stream of outstanding performances.
But then it was an evening of Strictly madness and magic on all levels. With the hair, make-up and wardrobe teams doing a fabulous job of transforming familiar faces and bodies into skeletons, vampires, wizards and black swans. In such ghoulish company I was relatively “normal”. My character was Jessica Fletcher – from the Angela Lansbury TV series Murder, She Wrote – and merely required simple styling with a wig to imitate her signature hairstyle. I received many compliments on how it suited me, but I found looking in the mirror pretty scary. That style and colour was exactly how I used to wear my hair 40 years ago. So the Ghost of Rippon Past was staring back at me. My own Hallowe’en nightmare!
Mind you, my partner Kai didn’t exactly get away lightly. He was done up as the local sheriff sidekick to Jessica’s murder-solving writer. Throughout the day he was having way too much fun in his uniform, particularly with the handcuffs. He’s a great impersonator and in a wickedly authentic Southern drawl, he accused several of us with “misdemeanours” and threatened to arrest us. I avoided being clamped to the make-up chair when I realised that he didn’t have a key to unlock the cuffs. The thought of being cut free with a hacksaw didn’t appeal so close to transmission. I just hope that the stick-on moustache hasn’t persuaded him to grow facial hair.
We had huge fun rehearsing the routine, as it was choreographed by the award-winning Bill Deamer. Whenever there’s a speciality dance, such as the Charleston or the Argentine Tango, Strictly enlists expert choreographers to work with the professional dancers. Bill became a friend many years ago, so I totally trusted him when they decided to include the scary move when Kai launched himself at me and then had to pull me up from the floor. The judges scored us 33 and once again viewers voted for us to stay, so a huge thank you for those votes.
Sundays have become precious time for catching up. This week, I did my usual body-maintenance regime, then home to a mountain of paperwork, telephone calls with friends and family and accumulated domestic chores, including filling up the bird feeders in the garden. My robin and family of blue tits must think that I’ve abandoned them by Saturday when the feeders are down to the dregs. It’s always great to meet fans who want to chat as I push my trolley around the supermarket aisles, and I always have a catch-up with the girls on the checkout.
This week, I made two huge pots of slow-cooked lamb stew. They sat on the hob for around six hours while I tackled a two-week-old pile of post on my desk. Rather like Jessica Fletcher, I unearthed a few “bodies” lurking among all the junk mail. Not just unanswered letters, but reminders for my almost-expired car tax. Oops! Monday brings the challenge of a new dance. This week it’s the waltz, so we are back to the discipline of the dreaded “hold”. The waltz was the very first ballroom dance I ever did as a girl, standing on my father’s feet, but the version that the judges will be looking for is on a whole different level.
I started the week feeling like I was in a straitjacket, with my upper body reclined from the waist, shoulders down, arms up and head tilted to see the world at an angle. Who knew that such an elegant dance takes such disciplined effort to achieve that “look”. Kai has the patience of a saint. So that, combined with the perfect romantic track, the classic Nat King Cole song Fascination, will hopefully all come together tomorrow night.
Strictly Come Dancing is on Saturday on BBC One at 7.05pm; Sunday at 7.15pm