The first live dance is tonight
Scott called Dev from Elstree Studios hours before his first competitive Strictly Come Dancing performance. He had barely slept and sounded anxious enough that Dev’s repeated use of the word “worried” only made him more nervous.
The cha-cha-cha had been practised for three weeks to Robbie Williams’s “Rock DJ”. Scott now had to adjust to the live band, which played the arrangement differently from the recording he knew.
A more Latin costume and rubber shoes
Wardrobe decided at the last minute that Scott’s outfit needed to look more Latin. Producers were searching for changes while he attempted not to imagine what the instruction might produce.
The floor had created another problem. A planned slide happened too early during rehearsal because the surface was so slippery, so rubber was added to the soles of Scott’s shoes.
At the end of the routine, he had been told to approach the camera with a sexy expression. Dev challenged him to add a wink for Radio 1, although Scott could not promise to remember one extra movement while concentrating on the dance.
Chris invents the hotline
Chris remembered the fake bookings he received after Scott placed a mobile number in his out-of-office message. With Scott absent and listeners sending support, he created a revenge service that connected callers directly to the contestant’s phone.
The first caller wanted to wish Scott luck and ask about his clothes. He tried to leave because a choreographer had given him a ten-minute slot. A second caller questioned him about dancing in front of ten million people and his chances against the rest of the cast.
Scott eventually realised the calls were coming through a Radio 1 “hotline” and asked for them to stop. Chris and Dev heard the agitation in his voice and decided the idea had worked perfectly.
Rock DJ is exactly the song
During Real or No Real, Chris rejected a claim that Scott had abandoned Pink’s “God Is a DJ” because the choice would be too predictable. Listeners then pointed him towards Scott and Joanne’s announcement video.
The real selection was “Rock DJ”, complete with the same broadcasting connection. Chris withdrew his criticism and declared it the perfect song, before putting the jokes aside long enough to say how proud he was that Scott had accepted something so far outside his experience.
There was no public vote during the opening weekend. For one night, Scott only had to perform the dance, receive the judges’ scores and survive the first live encounter with the ballroom.
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