Source: mirror.co.uk
Watching your giggling wife collapse under the weight of her sexy dance tutor on national television could spell trouble for some marriages.
But not TV sports presenter Gabby Logan’s. Because her husband Kenny’s next door – doing something similar with the wife of Gabby’s instructor.
Fear not though, this is no sleazy version of Wife Swap. Gabby and Kenny are the first husband and wife team on Strictly Come Dancing.And as an added quirk, they’re partnered with husband and wife professionals James and Ola Jordan.
Speaking exclusively to the Daily Mirror ahead of tonight’s “ladies” show, Gabby says: “We all work well together. Because James and Ola live outside of London we train at the same location so they can travel in together.
“It’s been nice for the four of us to have coffee or go for lunch.”
Mega-fit Gabby, whose background as a gymnast gives her a head-start in the flexibility stakes, is more concerned about her husband’s two left feet.
“Before we started this, Kenny had no sense of rhythm and wasn’t musical in the slightest,” she says. “The only time I’ve seen him dance was at our wedding.”
Rugby star Kenny, 35, was nearly booted off the show last week but the panel spared him after a dance-off with former Corrie serial killer Brian Capron.
Gabby, 34, says: “I think watching Kenny perform last week was more nerve-wracking than actually going out there myself.
“My stomach hurt with nerves. And when he was in the dance-off I felt physically ill.
“I know how hard he’s worked and how much he wants to dance. When he survived, the relief was immense. He’s got a lot more to give.”
Despite putting in four hours’ training every day to nail the complex footwork, Gabby wants get more practice. She says: “There just aren’t enough hours in the day. I’d love to have done more. But I’ve still got my sports show to do and I’ve had to fly up to Scotland this week to interview Kevin Keegan. So fitting the training around my normal work schedule hasn’t been easy.”
But Gabby and Kenny, who have two-year-old twins Lois and Reuben, are in no rush to bring their training home.
“I think we’d just confuse each other if we practised at home,” she says. “We’re learning completely different dances with completely different steps. Though if the series goes on and we both stay in we might end up having a few practices.”
Juggling her arduous training schedule with her everyday work commitments for the BBC means that Gabby can’t spend as much time with her toddlers as she’d like.
But she and Kenny, who married in 2001, try to make sure at least one of them is there to tuck the twins up in bed at the end of the day.
Gabby says: “I enjoy every second I spend with the children and whatever we do we fit everything around their routine.
“I miss them when I’m away or working and I’d never want to be apart from them for days on end. One of us will always be there at bedtime. We both value time with our children so much. They get on well together but they sometimes squabble. Lois has a lovely mark on her face where Reuben took a chunk out of it the other day. But they’re generally very good.”
They’re less good at recognising their parents when they appear on telly – Lois thinks her mum is Strictly’s co-host Tess Daly!
Gabby laughs: “Lois was shouting, ‘Mummy! Mummy!’ when she saw Tess.
“I think I’d have to be multi-talented to host the show, do all the interviews AND perform in the dances!
“And when Kenny was playing rugby Reuben would go up to the TV and wave and call for him. Then he’d wonder why his daddy wasn’t answering him back.
“They’re enjoying us doing the show though. The other night Lois woke up at 3am and I went in to check on her. She looked at me and said, ‘Finished dancing?’”
Tonight it’s the girls’ turn to take centre stage on the show. Gabby will be performing the quick step and faces stiff competition from Kelly Brook, Penny Lancaster and ex-Misteeq singer Alesha Dixon.
“I’m really looking forward to it,” says Gabby. “I just want to get out there and do this dance.”
Last week’s girl group dance gave the audience a taste of what to expect from this year’s female contingent. And the standard looked pretty high.
“Yeah, the group dance went well but dancing solo is going to be totally different,” says Gabby. “It was very showy and we all had a great time doing it. But you’ve got to be a lot more technical when there’s just the two of you.”
Gabby’s loving the camaraderie among her fellow competitors.
“Everybody really gets on and the girls are all fantastic,” she says. “It’s a great cast, a lovely mixed bag. There’s no one you wouldn’t want to be stuck in a lift with. And the professional dancers are all brilliant as well, so generous with their time.
“It was nice to see Kate Garraway on Saturday – she’s missed out on getting to know us because of her injury.
“I’ve known John Barnes for a long time and I’ve met Penny Lancaster a few times as well. I’d not met Kelly Brook before but she seems very easy-going.”
But Gabby says that her mischievous sense of humour saw her bond with a few of the contestants in particular.
“Alesha Dixon, Letitia Dean and I were like the three naughty schoolgirls on Saturday,” she laughs. “We were giggling at everything. Also I have to give a special mention to Stephanie Beacham who is just so funny. I think she’s also quite vulnerable which is sweet. She’s definitely the Grande Dame of the contestants.”
Strictly has been responsible for some dramatic weight losses over the years – former contestants Jan Ravens, Darren Gough and James Martin all finished the series far trimmer than when they started.
But Gabby reckons she’s actually doing less exercise than normal. She says: “I could do with going for a couple of runs.
Learning to dance is very stop-start and I’m not getting as much cardio as I normally do. So it’s fun and I’m sure it’s doing me good but I haven’t noticed any major differences in my body yet.
“I’ve been more tired though. I came home from Saturday’s show exhausted. But I was on a high so I couldn’t get to sleep when I went to bed. It was 4.30am before I finally went off and then I was up again with the twins three hours later. So it’s going to be draining, but I can handle it.”
But can she win it? “I want to do as well as I know I can,” she smiles. “There’s so much to think about – the steps, your posture, everything. It’s a really steep learning curve and hard work.
“Most of all I hope I can go out there and make people smile. That would be great.”
Strictly Come Dancing is on tonight at 6.15pm, and tomorrow at 6.45pm, BBC1.
SUPERB FIGURES!
Last week there were…
78 costume changes.
172 metres of fabric to make the dresses.
24 cans of tan spray