How did it all start?
LG: The BBC rang me to see if I would be willing to come along for an interview and a screen test as a suitable candidate for judging the new programme Strictly Come Dancing, as apparently my name had been forwarded to them by numerous people from the dancing business. So off I trotted to the television studios in London where I had various meetings with some of the producers of the programme and was videoed answering a variety of questions relating to dancing and adjudicating.
What were your first thoughts when the BBC approached you to come on the programme?
LG: I was worried that the programme would be a disaster and that “our” business would suffer. For in the past Ballroom dancing has had that fuddy duddy image portrayed by television, in particular the Hi-de-Hi! programme, which featured an old-fashioned Ballroom couple. Generally the British public have the wrong image of dance schools and dancing.
Has the show lived up to your initial expectations and in what way?
LG: It surpassed my initial expectations. Using celebrities to partner the professionals it brought a certain excitement to the programme. Thanks to Christopher Parker, the young EastEnders heart throb, it also encouraged young kids to watch the programme and further still made them think about dancing in a different light and even made a few of them join their local dance school. The daily fly on the wall BBC3 documentaries showing how the various couples were coping with their practising helped a lot too.
Opinions of the programme varied immensely.
LG: Whether the opinions were good or bad didn’t matter because it provoked people to talk about dancing, something that has never happened before. At the end of the day, you cannot please everybody, it’s all about balance and I think, generally, the BBC got the right balance.
Can you let us in on the judging… what criteria were you looking for and did the couples meet it?
LG: Firstly, the criteria I was looking for were that the couple danced together as a couple and that it wasn’t the professional doing all the work and the celebrity left to wriggle about. Secondly, I was looking for a balanced routine with an element of good technique. I wanted to see some basic steps, which any beginner should have learnt, because I knew that most couples would try the impossible for any beginner — which would be to dance difficult steps in order to woo the public support. I also wanted to see some good choreography, as I stated in the programme — a good routine is like a garden, you need some grass and flowers; all grass is boring and all flowers becomes too much for your eyes to take in. The eventual winner definitely danced as a couple and yes, they had good choreography.
Did you appreciate the effort that the couples made?
LG: The effort was unbelievable from both the celebrities and the professionals. As with all of us involved with the show, we were told a different story at the outset with regard to how many hours we would be expected to undertake. The professionals were led to believe that they would only be required for a maximum of six hours practice a week and just the live show on Saturday evenings. But in reality, they had to be at the studios early on Saturday mornings and they were practising six plus hours a day. Leslie Garrett and Natasha Kaplinsky notched up almost 400 hours of practice between them, which was very demanding given that both were working at the time as well. I think also as the competition hotted up, the competitive edge came out in each of them and everybody wanted to win and so they were willing to go that extra mile in order to try and get through to the next round.
Who were you personal favourites?
LG: I had three favourites, which include the eventual winners. I knew that the professional men would have the advantage over the professional ladies because dance is male driven and however good the professional ladies were, from a dancing point of view, their partners would struggle.
Overall — how would you describe the experience?
LG: It was absolutely fabulous — I was flattered to have been asked by the BBC but I was not really looking forward to it. I was apprehensive as to whether the programme would be a success but as each week went by I enjoyed it more and more.
You were meant to judge Blackpool this year. What made you turn it down and do SCD instead?
LG: Sore subject, ideally I would have liked to have done both but neither parties were willing to release me for the time required. Both sides wouldn't budge, they wanted all or nothing. I also learnt that if I did not do the SCD programme then the BBC would not replace me, they would just use the other three remaining judges. I had concerns for "our" whole industry if the judging panel was not represented by a Ballroom and/or Latin qualified adjudicator and so, I thought I would best serve "our business" by doing the SCD programme and so resigned from judging Blackpool.
If you were asked to do a second series, would you?
LG: Oh yes.
Do you think the programme reflected Ballroom dancing correctly?
LG: It was only a snapshot of our business and I think it did reflect what we do to a degree but not the professional or medallist world. However, it did demonstrate the amount of effort that goes into practising, to working things out, the traumas and the tears, the aching of feet and how fit you have to be to attain a certain standard. In my opinion, it was more entertaining for the viewing public than just watching professional couples on the dance floor performing. It gave the programme an edge and it was exciting. The celebrities helped to demonstrate to the viewers, that it was possible for anyone to learn to dance, despite if they thought they had two left feet, and that the enjoyment and good feeling it brings as well as health benefits was encouraging to hear.
How did you fit it all in with you regular commitments?
LG: Apart from the initial visits to the television studios at the preliminary stages and because it was live, I only had to turn up on Saturdays and I was fortunate enough to have a team of people cover for me at my studio for the eight weeks. The BBC3 daily programmes only required my services one evening a week and only for a couple of hours at a time rather than the eight hours required on a Saturday. However, my golf did suffer!
Did you find judging the programme hard?
LG: No not hard, I would imagine it's like jumping out of a plane for the first time with a parachute…it's frightening at first because you don't know what to expect but once you are on your way floating down it's fine really. The most difficult bit was having my comments ready to deliver on each couple within one minute of them performing, as the judges were not able to watch the rehearsal prior to the live show and so we were seeing the performances for the first time just like the viewers.
Did you have to hold back?
LG: Oh yes, because normally I would always say what I think and all sorts of comments would probably have come out. However, I seem to have been thought of as the "nice" judge from the show, not because I went out of my way to be, it's just that I admired the celebrities for taking on such a task. I kept thinking how I might have felt in similar circumstances. If I had been given the task of learning golf in six weeks from a complete beginner to then being expected to play with Tiger Woods in front of eight million people, that would certainly have taken some nerve.
So have you reached some sort of celebrity status yourself?
LG: No, this is the greatest disappointment of my whole life. Not one person has recognised me. It's a bitter pill to swallow and I'm ever hopeful that one day someone will say "are you the man from the judging panel of SCD". However, my classes have blossomed as a result and my pupils now think I'm great.
How much interaction did you have with the celebrities then?
LG: At the television studios there is an outside area known as the donut where staff and celebrities congregate to pass time and to get some fresh air. It was there that I got to meet a few of the celebrities hanging around and joined them in conversation. I was also very fortunate to play a round of golf with Bruce Forsyth, which was a wonderful experience and one that I will take to my grave with me.
Did you find them quite accessible?
I found them all very friendly and they were often asking me for tips.
Your first TV appearance... Did you have nerves?
LG: There was a tiny bit of apprehension but I wasn't nervous. I've been lucky all my life like that, I've never had any worries. I tried always just to be myself.
How does being on live TV compare to being a judge at Blackpool?
LG: Walking out to judge Blackpool is much easier, I know what is expected of me. Yes, there is pressure judging such a prestigious event but being an old timer I know what I'm doing. However, live television is a different kettle of fish all together, you are frightened as to how you will come across in front of the cameras, you do not want to be lost for words nor wooden in appearance. The judges at Blackpool do not pass comment to several million people as to what they think of a particular performance from a couple and so it was vastly different. It was also worrying to deliver "off the cuff" comments that summed up everything the couples did in a manner that the non dancing viewer would understand and that everybody would enjoy hearing.
So what was it like the first time live and the camera swung to you?
LG: It wasn't as traumatic as I thought it would be. I tried, leading up to each programme, to have a few quips in my head that I might be able to use if I saw something demonstrated that would be befitting to the quip. A perfect example of this was "all sizzle and no sausage" which meant the performance was overloaded with tricks and not enough basic dance steps. Also as each week went by we all relaxed a bit more and so I found it easier to comment on each of the couples and thankfully I didn't say anything too terrible — after all it was live TV.
Were there moments when you wanted to say exactly how you felt about the couples and/or their dancing?
LG: Yes sometimes, but again, given the amount of time those celebrities had to learn all the dances and the level of choreography they had to execute, I had to give credit where it was due, even if the performance was poor. Besides we were not permitted to comment on the professionals just the celebrities and the other judges seemed to tear into them on occasions and so it was important to give a balanced view.
Did you receive and if so, were you happy to accept guidance from the BBC professionals?
LG: I was more than happy to receive some guidance, but the BBC producers were not sure as to how to play things and so guidance was fairly remote albeit we had our weekly chats with the producers and they seemed pleased with how we were developing our roles each week. I did get told off a couple of times — once for saying to Brendan and Natasha in the last show "if you don't win, it will be a travesty". Also the producers thought that I was too funny sometimes with my quips and they were concerned that the audience would think my comments were scripted but, as anybody who knows me will tell you, I'm just a funny guy.
You were the only professional judge on the programme. What do you make of that?
LG: I guess I was flattered but it also goes back to why it was imperative for me to do this job and resign from judging Blackpool. The BBC wanted an entertaining panel of judges and I guess they achieved that with Grumpy Craig, Bruno the fiery Italian, Arlene the respected choreographer, and me, Leonardo Cappuccino, the nations’ Grandad, as Chris Parker once quipped.
