Strictly Come Dancing - Erin Boag

Former Strictly Come Dancing professional dancer Erin Boag has given the cheeky ‘demand’ judge Anton Du Beke has during every live show, while revealing the contestant from this year’s line-up she would have returned to dance with.

Speaking recently in conjunction with Genting Casino’s 20k Spins competition, Erin says while her professional dance partner Anton is 'not a diva at all', the one request he has for every episode of Strictly is a cup of tea 'in porcelain', sent at a specific time during each show. 

Meanwhile, she says it's Stefan Dennis who she would have loved to have come back to the dance floor in a pairing with, naming him one of the show's 'biggest stars', and a 'really great booking', despite him having to withdraw due to injury. 

Elsewhere, she opens up on the four contestants she'd like to see in the final, while going on to label former Lioness Kaz Carney as her 'biggest dark horse' of the competition.

Speaking in conjunction with Genting Casino’s 20k Spins competition, Erin Boag says: 

'Anton has a very specific diva demand'

I was speaking to Anton the other day. He said, 'Do you know what I do on a show day?' You have what’s called a flyer, people have demands. He’s not a diva at all, this is not a diva thing. I know it’s been in the papers that he’s a diva because he got someone to peel his satsuma while he was in make-up. That was hilarious, you call that a diva? Anton Du Beke, every week, without fail, demands a cup of tea be sent to him at the judges’ table. It has to be sent at a certain time. At the beginning of the show, Tess and Claudia, they come in, and welcome the stars of the show. Down come the contestants. Then it shoots over to Tess and she says, our first contestant this week is… and that is when Anton demands his cup of tea be brought to him, not in a mug, a tea cup. Anton only does porcelain tea cups. He puts it on the shelf underneath where the judges have their paddles. He drinks his tea before the VT, he is watching the first number but he is sipping his tea.

'Shirley Ballas has to sit on a booster seat because she's only tiny'

He says Shirley has a booster seat. Shirley, because she’s only wincey, she’s tiny and wears high heels, she’s so tiny they have to put her on a booster seat. Behind that table, we have a cup of tea in a porcelain tea cup and saucer, not a mug, and next to that we have the booster seat with Shirley.

'My finalists? Alex, Amber, Lewis and Ellie'

With Amber, she was [brought] in a few days before the show went out, you probably needed someone like her to pull it off in such a short space of time. Another one I’m really impressed with, who’s really grown on me, and I think she’s quite wonderful, is Alex. She’s a mature woman, she’s over 40. She’s great. My finalists would be Lewis, of course, Amber and it would be Alex. At this stage, if she keeps the momentum up, she’s really surprised me and she’s really good. I don’t know if she’s had any dance training, but she pulls off an excellent character each week. Johannes is a perfect partner for her. I didn’t think I was going to enjoy her dancing so much after the first show, but I really like her. This is the wonderful thing about Strictly, your opinion can soon change. The other one who has surprised me is Ellie. Technically, up until this week, she’s been really bouncy, very excited. Everything she did was almost overdone, but she went out and executed a great Samba, one of the hardest dances. The one thing Ellie has is her routines, she doesn’t fumble, she remembers the routine, Vito - they’re so funny together. 

'Karen is the biggest dark horse of the competition'

Karen has also surprised me. I think having footballers in the past - they’re not the most elegant. They are not the most glamorous. I think what’s surprised me is she goes from this rugged everyday girl, a bit of a ‘lass’, one of the team, and all of a sudden she comes out and it’s just, wow. She looks sassy, sexy, she lives that moment really. Every woman’s dream! Her leg action, although her feet are a bit sloppy, her leg action is strong. Whether I’d put her in the final or not, I’m not sure, but she’s definitely up there with the best of them. George Clark, he’s also got great potential.

'Stefan Dennis is the one person I'd have returned to the show to dance with'

When they called the lineup out, and you’re reading rumors, I was so excited [to see Stefan included]. So excited that I wanted to go in there and say, right, I’m making a comeback, if there’s one person I’d make a comeback for, it would be for Paul Robinson [from Neighbours] and I’d liked him to have played a baddie the whole time, kill me off in the end, I don’t care. What an honour to have had Stefan on the show, I don’t care what people say, he’s one of the biggest stars and he was a really great booking, one of their best. One of the longest running characters on the longest running soaps in the world.