Strictly Special 12 Again

Coming up, it's time to get your dancing shoes on

and hit the dance floor...

as the twinkled-toed stars of Strictly Come Dancing

remember the year they were 12.

I was teased at school, because everyone thought I wore mascara.

Occasionally, I got... I looked like a girl.

I used to watch these amateur dancers on television and think,

"I want to be on TV, dancing, doing what I love!"

-SHE LAUGHS

-That's sad, isn't it?

Want to know more? Well...

Have you ever wondered what it would have been like to have been

best mates your favourite celebs when they were your age?

What did they get up to?

What were their favourite songs?

And what TV shows did they watch?

Because, despite the glamorous lifestyles they now lead,

once they were a 12-year-old kid, just like you.

In this dance-tastic special we'll tango back in time

with the Strictly team as they become... 12 again.

They're some of the world's most famous professional dancers,

battling it out to win the Strictly Come Dancing crown.

I have my goal set to hold that trophy.

Who knows what will happen?

Standing between them and the Strictly title

are weeks of hard graft and the fearsome Strictly judges.

The top line I thought was hideously rigid.

Good effort, but not good result.

They're kings and queens of the dance floor now.

But back when they were kids, they were only starting out

on the road to dancing superstardom.

So let's waltz back in time and find out what our dancing divas

were like when they were 12.

I would say I was a very good 12 year old.

I was a bit of a saint, I think.

When I was 12 years old, I used to get embarrassed very easy,

and go very red.

When I was 12, I had longish hair because that was fashionable

in 1977.

I had very long, black eyelashes and I was teased at school

because everyone thought I wore mascara, and I didn't.

I was quite fiery... and, I would say outgoing, then.

I think I've mellowed a bit more and I'm a bit more shy now.

The one thing I always remember about being 12 is having

loads of fake tan on my face every Monday

when I went to school after a competition.

I was always at the forefront of fashion. Ha-ha-ha-ha!

It was the late '60s.

It was very colourful, fashion.

I had kind of bouffy hair.

Kind of big, I suppose.

HE LAUGHS

Occasionally, I got... I looked like a girl.

I used to overdo the eyeliner.

It was sort of that experimental stage.

I look back now and know it was far too much,

but when I was 12, I thought it was cool.

I had really long, curly hair.

I was really skinny...

and I had bow-legged legs,

and my brother used to always tease me and call me "Chicken Legs".

So that's what our Strictly celebs looked like

when they were 12 - but how was school for them when they had

bouffy hair, overdone eyeliner and were plastered with fake tan?

Because I was quite successful as a dancer as a child, my peers

and schoolmates were really proud of what I did

and I was always in the paper and bringing my trophies into school.

I was very lucky, I never got anybody take the Mickey for being a

ballroom dancer, because back then, a ballroom dancer was quite daggy.

I went to a very sporty high school. If you were very sporty,

you got to wear the grey jumper instead of the dark blue one,

and the grey one was... everyone who was cool wore the grey ones.

-So I did. I was in the netball team...

-Right, OK.

-..the soccer team, which you call "football"...

-OK.

-..the gymnastics team...

-Ow!

-..the basketball team...

-Get out!

-..the trampolining team...

-Mm-hm.

-..the rhythmical gymnastics team,

-a swimming team...

-Is there a team you weren't on?

-I did them all...

-Oh!

-..because I sort of wanted this grey jumper.

There you have it. The tale of the grey jumper!

Sadly, not everyone had such a great time at school,

and for some of our Strictly celebs it could be pretty lonely.

I hated school. I don't think too many people want to be friends

with the ballroom dancer.

HE LAUGHS I know - it's very sad.

I don't think someone that goes ballroom and Latin dancing,

in my day, was ever going to be one of the cool kids -

cos it wasn't look upon as a cool thing to do in those days.

So girls weren't really that interested in me at school.

Brendan didn't suffer from shyness with girls quite like James did.

My first kiss? Yeah, I remember that.

A couple of girls at school I remember.

One's name was Belinda, on school camp.

There were two of them. It was great! Not at the same time!

One was named Michelle, at the start of the camp.

We didn't get on that well at the end of the camp -

then it was Belinda, something like that!

Thanks for clearing that up, Romeo!

So, was there one moment in their schooldays when our Strictly

stars realised that their destiny was to dance?

All the guys at my school, at Granville Boys' High School,

were learning to dance, like in the playground.

MUSIC: "Summer Nights" by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John

# Summer lovin', had me a blast... #

There was films, like Grease, of course, had just come out.

MUSIC: "Grease Lightning" by John Travolta

# Grease Lightning Go, Grease Lightning! #

It was cool for boys to be getting in there, giving it a groove.

Everyone was learning all the John Travolta moves.

That's really why I fell in love with dance, I suppose.

When I was 12, I was a serious swimmer,

and my best stroke was breaststroke.

I used to enjoy that a lot more than dancing

and I did ballroom dancing and Latin dancing.

I used to enjoy it, but it was just as a hobby.

I wanted to be a builder. I didn't think about dancing as a career.

It was just something I did along with everything else I did.

There was a couple of competitions which were shown on TV.

And I said to my mum, "I want to do that, I want to dance like that."

And eventually I got my mum to sign me up to, like, dances classes

and that's how I started.

I used to come home and practice a lot at home.

I used to have slippers which I used to dance in,

and my mum said they were so worn out, because I was just dancing

all the time at home.

I've always loved to dance, but there was a turning point,

and it actually was when I was 12 years old.

I did my first open competition. And I won everything.

And that was the moment where I said to myself,

"You're going to make a career out of this."

So that's what our dancing divas were up to when they were 12,

but what tunes were they jiving along to?

I was a massive, massive Michael Jackson fan.

MUSIC: "Billy Jean" by Michael Jackson

When I was 12, one of the massive hits was Bryan Adams,

Everything I Do, I Do For You.

# Everything I do I do it for you... #

Dire Straits, Money for Nothing.

# That ain't working That's the way you do it

# Money for nothing And your chicks for free... #

For me, the Spice Girls.

MUSIC: "Wannabe" by The Spice Girls

# So tell me what you want

# What you really, really want

# So tell me what you want What you really, really want

# I wanna, I wanna, I wanna

# I really, really, really want Zig-a-zig-a... #

Sad, isn't it? SHE LAUGHS

Stay tuned to hear more Strictly stars ruin more pop songs later.

Now, when Robin was 12, in 1991, he was getting some divine

inspiration from the godmother of modern pop.

Like A Prayer, from Madonna, was one of my favourite tracks.

# Life is a mystery... #

Incorporating elements of gospel music, and with a religious theme,

Like A Prayer is the title track from Madonna's fourth album.

At the time, it topped the charts in both the US and the UK.

Today, it's regarded as a pop masterpiece.

I used to like the video but a lot of people at the time didn't,

because Madonna, as always, was ahead of her time...

very controversial.

But I thought she was brave and it's people like that who inspire you

to do things a little outside the box.

Robin's right. The video did offend some religious groups

because of its use of Christian imagery.

So much so that the Pope encouraged people

not to go to Madonna concerts in Italy.

But for Robin, it's always been a cracking tune,

pure and simple.

Anything that starts slow and then kicks into a beat,

it's a great way to choreograph something to,

because you can start all slow and sensual...

# Heaven help me... #

..rip off the costume

with something fabulous underneath and then shake your tushy away.

Oh, madam!

# I wanna take you there... #

# It's like a prayer I'll take you there

# It's like a dream to me Oh-woh-woh-woh. #

And there we have it - another pop classic ruined.

Whilst Madonna was massive from the '80s onwards,

back in the '70s there was one band

that were getting the whole world dancing.

And especially one 12-year-old boy in Sydney.

I absolutely loved Abba when I was 12.

Hailing from snowy Sweden,

Abba were Benny, Bjorn, Anni-Frid and Agnetha - she's the blonde one.

They first became famous in 1974

after winning the Eurovision Song Contest with Waterloo.

Pop-tastic pantaloons, Agnetha!

# Waterloo, promise to love you for ever more... #

Abba are one of the most successful pop acts ever. They have sold

nearly 400 million records. That's a fair few more than even Madonna.

And, to this day, they still sell

more than two million records a year.

Not bad for a band that broke up in 1982.

# Waterloo Finally facing my Waterloo. #

Abba actually came to Australia

and they had an album called Arrival and it was huge.

I just remember it, the four of them in front of this big helicopter.

My favourite number, darling - Dancing Queen.

# Digging the dancing queen

# Young and sweet only seventeen... #

I was spinning round, doing gypsy turns.

I still love it and I can never get bored of it.

# Dancing queen Feel the beat from the tambourine

# Oh, yeah

# You can dance, you can jive Having the time of your life

# Oooh, see that girl Watch that scene

# Dig it, the dancing queen. #

I think I got all of the words wrong but still.

I think you got all the notes wrong.

At least you're better than Robin.

In 1960s Italy when Bruno was 12,

he was listening to a song

by The Rolling Stones.

I remember my first record I ever bought

was a cover version of Paint It Black by The Rolling Stones.

# I see a red door and I want to paint it black. #

In the 1960s, British rock group

The Rolling Stones were about as cool as it gets.

Imagine One Direction and JLS combined and you're half way there.

They released Paint It Black in 1966

and it went on to be number one in both the UK and the USA.

But in Italy, Bruno was not listening to the original. Oh, no.

It had been translated into Italian.

In Italy we used to get all the British songs picked up

by an Italian artist and then sung in Italian.

# Da quando so che non potrai piu ritornare... #

Her name was Caterina Caselli. I still remember.

You never forget, it's like your first love,

you know, your first single. Paint It Black.

-A-hem.

-No, don't sing! Not Paint it black. Don't ruin this classic!

# Di notte il cielo senza stelle e tutto nero. #

I remember.

That's pop song number four ruined.

What is it with these dancers?

At least back in 1994 Karen confined

her singing to the bathroom.

When I was 12, I loved Paula Abdul. She was fantastic.

My favourite song was Opposites Attract.

# I take two steps forward Take two steps back

# We come together cos opposites attract... #

I would take my cassette player into the bathroom and

I would become Paula Abdul in the shower.

It was just really energetic and really fun and I love the fact that

she's a dancer as well so I was able to copy some of her dance moves.

# Two steps forward I'll take two steps back... #

It may seem totally normal now,

but at the time this video was ground-breaking and won

a Grammy award for its use of animation alongside Paula.

# We come together cos opposites attract. #

I thought it was fabulous that she was dancing next to a cartoon

and I was like, "How do they do that? "Is that cartoon really there?"

Still to come, we find out what our dancing superstars were

watching when they were 12.

I would be glued in front of the TV.

It was the best half an hour of my week.

I remember vividly the commentary because it was terrible.

It is one of my favourite, favourite movies.

But first, the stars of Strictly Come Dancing are not just

the best in the UK, they've been hand picked

from the creme de la creme of the dancing world.

I grew up in Auckland, New Zealand which is the biggest

sort of city in New Zealand.

New Zealand has a lot more space than here.

The climate is slightly warmer

so you have an opportunity to stay outside for longer

and to run around.

Erin's not the only New Zealander to be strutting her stuff

on the Strictly Come Dancing stage this year.

New Zealand is very open. It's a beautiful country. The cities are

much the same I suppose but we have probably a bit more land

around the houses, a few more trees in the actual cities.

The roads are wider. Everything's wider, everything's more spacious.

So let's get this right - New Zealand is beautiful,

the sun is warmer, there are more trees

and there's lots of space to run around.

So what are you two doing in the UK with our crowded cities

and terrible, rainy weather?

OK, to be fair, New Zealand is pretty stunning, and its natural

beauty has won it many fans in the film industry.

The country is used as a location for Middle Earth in both

Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.

In neighbouring Australia

when Craig was 12 in 1977, he was

getting a bit on the stinky side.

When I was 12,

I was living in Sydney and Sydney is very humid,

it's very hot so when you got to school it's very sweaty.

We had absolutely no air conditioning at our school, so you'd sit

in your classroom and be really, you know, pongy and sweaty and horrible

but we wore little shorts, we wore little ties and summer outfits.

Oh, isn't he adorable?

But whilst Craig was sweltering in the heat of Sydney,

when Karen was 12 in 1994 she was still getting used to

the cold winters of her new home in the USA.

I originally come from Venezuela.

It was warm and I had my family around.

We moved to New York when I was eight years old. It was a new country.

It was cold and I'm wearing a jacket that I feel like Frosty The Snowman

and, you know, it felt like I didn't have that many friends

cos I didn't speak English and I felt lonely.

Growing up in Poland,

Ola was no stranger to cold winters either.

But there were other hardships to be faced there too.

I had a lovely childhood,

but my country was quite grey and dark really when I was younger

because there was communism when I was born

so Poland was struggling through the years.

I just remember a small bit of communism

cos obviously it was getting better while I was growing up.

Communism is a political system that dominated the former

Soviet Union, run by Russia, as well as Eastern European

countries like Poland, for much of the 20th century.

Under communist rule, governments owned things like shops,

businesses and farms.

They didn't allow free elections

and kept a very close eye on what the media was allowed to say.

When Ola was growing up in the 1980s, Poland went through

some serious economic problems.

Food was rationed and queuing for hours to buy even the basics

was commonplace.

There was just nothing in the shops.

My mum couldn't just go to the shop and buy me a Barbie doll

or clothes or anything like that.

They had to get up at five o'clock in the morning to start queuing

because they brought in meat in a shop.

So it was quite hard. I think it was quite hard on my mum and dad.

Communism ended in Poland more than 20 years ago now

and the country's gone on to become

one of Europe's most successful economies.

When Flavia was 12 she was spending

her holidays living la dolce vita

in her homeland of Italy.

I'm Italian. I was born in Italy.

Both my parents are Italian, from Naples.

I moved to England just before I turned five.

I used to go back to Italy quite a lot,

when I was about 12 actually.

I would actually go for the whole of the school holidays.

Naples. It's an incredibly interesting city.

It's quite dangerous but that's what makes it quite exciting as well.

It's one of those towns were you've got to, you know, watch yourself.

What Flavia is talking about is the Mafia - a criminal organisation

that operates in parts of Italy.

Naples is a stronghold of a branch of the Mafia known as the Camorra.

The Camorra get involved in all sorts of crime, even controlling

some of the companies that collect rubbish in Naples and have

been blamed for leaving huge piles of stinky stuff all over town.

The Italian government has been trying to

weaken the influence of the Camorra,

and for most visitors they aren't an issue.

For Flavia, as for many, Naples will always be great place

to spend a holiday.

It's beautiful, it's absolutely beautiful.

I don't remember going there once and the sun not shining.

Still to come, we speak to our Strictly Celebs and ask them

what they would say to their 12-year-old selves.

I had my first kiss when I was 12 and I kissed him and I ran away.

I think I would kiss him proper.

If you love something, whether it be a sport, whether it be dancing,

whether it be playing a musical instrument, follow that dream.

Follow your heart and don't be discouraged.

But first, what were our bevy of ballroom beauties watching

on telly when they were 12?

EastEnders was one of the shows I remember watching

sort of with my family.

My mum used to absolutely love the theme tune.

I remember her singing it or humming it every time it came on and

she always used to say, "I love this tune."

I'm like, "What are you thinking?"

It's a classic tune, Flavia.

I remember the days of Bruce Forsyth presenting the Generation Game.

Nice to see you, to see you...

AUDIENCE: Nice!

And he's still saying that now.

Long before presenting Strictly, Sir Bruce Forsyth fronted

the Generation Game...

What's funny about that?

-LAUGHTER

-I haven't said anything yet.

..one of the best-loved Saturday night shows ever,

pairing up different generations of

the same family and chucking them into crazy competitions.

There was two couples and they were doing little competitions

all the way throughout the show.

Some of them were learning to dance so it was quite funny to watch

and I loved it.

Silly dancing was a pretty big element of the Generation Game.

But for anyone more serious about dance

there was only one show on television worth watching.

From a very young age I used to be watching it

and I think it was around seven o'clock on a Thursday night

and I would be glued in front of the TV.

It was the best half an hour of my week.

So, what was this mystery show that was mesmerising our young Robin?

Come Dancing.

-Come Dancing.

-Come Dancing.

I absolutely loved Come Dancing.

Hm, snazzy titles.

As any young ballroom dancer would know,

Come Dancing was the ultimate dancing show that was on television.

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen and, once again,

a very warm welcome from the Tower Ballroom

here in Blackpool for this, the 40th anniversary series of Come Dancing.

Come Dancing is the show that inspired Strictly Come Dancing.

It was one of the longest-running shows on UK television

and was on air between 1949 and 1998.

It featured teams of amateur dancers from across the UK -

no celebs here - competing for a coveted Come Dancing trophy.

One of the differences between the current show

and Come Dancing was the slightly questionable commentary.

Michael Habergham and Rachel Simpson have been

regulars on Come Dancing for a good few years now.

When he's not busy on the dance floor,

Michael runs his own fish and chip shop near Halifax.

I remember vividly the commentary because it was terrible.

He's 24 and works for the DHSS in Lancashire.

She's 23 - a tax officer on Merseyside.

Up next we have John and Jane

and Jane has sewn 20,000 sequins onto her dress.

Their house is home to a vast assortment of colourful tropical

fish and an equally vast assortment of equally colourful dance dresses.

In their spare time they like to do the washing up

and they make their own dresses.

Neil and Paula have one notable thing in common -

they both list their hobbies as shopping and spending money.

Hmm.

Enough already. But despite the comedy commentary, Come Dancing was

a massive source of inspiration for our celebrity dancers.

Probably my mum, somewhere in her attic,

has still got videotapes that say Come Dancing cos

we used to record them so that we could watch them back.

That's how obsessed we were.

I used to watch these amateur dancers on television and think,

"I want to be on TV, dancing, doing what I love,

"just like what these guys are!"

Even though it went till 1998 or something,

it was still harping back to the '50s.

Sort of like what Strictly does,

but Strictly has made it really modern.

But it wasn't just the small screen

that kept our future fox-trotters entranced.

The cinema also gave our 12 year olds the urge

to take to the dance floor

with one film in particular taking them by storm.

In 1987 Dirty Dancing came out.

It is one of my favourite, favourite movies.

Dirty Dancing was a word-of-mouth hit at the cinema

and it transformed the way people think about dance.

Set in the 1960s, it follows a 17-year-old student called Baby

as she falls in love during her summer holidays.

The guy she just happens to fall in love with was played by none

other than Hollywood heart-throb Patrick Swayze.

Oh, ain't he handsome?

# I've had the time of my life... #

It's the most iconic dance movie ever.

Patrick Swayze in the movie,

he was quite a cool guy, you know, he was fighting.

He was good looking and I thought,

"Hang on a minute, that's quite cool."

And all the women wanted to be around him and dance with him.

That was kind of the stage for me where I did realise

that dancing actually is cool.

# I've had the time of my life I've never felt this way before... #

Definitely the movie had a massive impact on my dancing.

# And I owe it all to you... #

The fact it was a dancing movie and I was a dancer, that gives me

inspiration and just the magic of what film does -

the romance and the dancing. Perfect.

So those were the TV and film memories

of our Strictly Come Dancing stars when they were 12.

But what advice would they give knowing now what

they didn't know then?

I went through school as a very lucky boy. A lot of boys

gave up dancing with a lot of talent because they were picked on.

Now you've got Harry Judd,

this cool guy from a boy band, who can win Strictly Come Dancing.

It makes ballroom dancing cool.

So my advice is if you're a dancer and you do get any trouble,

keep pushing on cos eventually the rewards will come back to you.

All I say to you kids - follow your heart and don't be discouraged.

As a 12-year-old, it's very hard.

You're growing up, your turning into a young woman and it's not easy.

You're a bit lost, I think, at that age

but you've just got to stick with it.

You've got to keep doing the things that you love doing and you'll

always come out the other side, you know, a better person for it.

If I was to go back to being 12 again, you know,

I had my first kiss when I was 12 and I kissed him and I ran away.

I think I would kiss him proper, give him a good old smacker.

If I was 12 again,

I think I would tell all the kids in the playground that

I love dancing and it's what I do and get over it.

If you love something, whether it be a sport,

whether it be dancing, whether it be playing a musical instrument,

follow that dream and stick to it and don't listen to anybody else.

So, what have we learnt?

That dancers should never sing.

# It's like a prayer

# I'll take you there. #

# Oooh, see that girl. #

# I wanna, I wanna, I wanna

# I really, really, really wanna zig-a-zig ah. #

# Dancing queen. #

Awful. Clowns are always creepy.

And Michael runs his own fish and chip shop near Halifax.

When he's not busy on the dance floor,

Michael runs his own fish and chip shop near Halifax.

I bet he does a lovely battered haddock.