Win dancing lessons with the Strictly Come Dancing's Anton, James and Vincent

By NATASHA PEARLMAN

Last updated at 15:57 27 December 2007


You've watched the show and you've cheered your heroes and groaned at the judges. Now, Femail is offering you the chance to sample the magic of Strictly Come Dancing yourself.

Our competition will see three women readers having a free dance lesson with Anton du Beke, Vincent Simone or James Jordan. Here, all three reflect on the series, and explain why they're so passionate about dancing.

Scroll down for more...

ANTON DU BEKE, has starred in all five series of the show. His dance partners on it have included Lesley Garrett, Esther Rantzen, Patsy Palmer, Jan Ravens and Kate Garraway.

On a freezing Thursday morning Anton du Beke is swirling me round a Knightsbridge side street. 'Back step, right step, together and right step. And again. There we go, wonderful!' he grins with that unmistakable, Bruce Forsyth-esque smile.

'Learning to dance is easy,' he assures me. 'You're doing brilliantly, natural grace.'

Anton sounds so sincere I want to believe him, I really do. But this is the man who thinks Kate Garraway - the hapless GMTV presenter with whom he was paired on this year's Strictly Come Dancing and the woman who caused judge Arlene Phillips to condemn her salsa as about as 'sexy as a coconut' - is a good dancer.

Millions would disagree, but Anton is insistent: 'The judges didn't give her enough credit. In training she was very good, she picked up the steps quickly, but it was just performance nerves.

'I don't think anyone can understand what it's really like for the celebrities to have to go out each week and perform a dance, live, to ten million people, when you have no formal training.

'I remember Julian Clary, two seasons ago, literally being paralysed with fear before each live show. He could barely move or speak. I've never seen him so serious. But all credit it to him, he would overcome his fear and go out and dance his socks off in front of the judges.

'It was the same with Kate, even though she was nervous and on occasion forgot a few of the steps, she never gave up. That's why I admire her so much. It was tough to take all those comments from the judges, but even tougher to come to practise the next day, raring to go.'

Anton's praise, however, is not reserved for last week's runner-up, EastEnders star Matt di Angelo. For the same reasons he admires Kate, he admonishes Matt.

'Frankly, he's not as good a dancer as the show's winner Alesha, and when two weeks before the final he had that messup and forgot his dance steps, he gave up. He didn't try and get through the routine, he seemed more to shrug his shoulders and accept defeat.

'I can't accept that sort of attitude. As far as I was concerned he didn't deserve to be in the final - for that reason alone, it should have been Gethin instead.'

Such harsh words hardly tally with Anton's cheery television persona but, surprisingly, underneath that showbiz smile lies a man with a heart of steel.

He lives to his mantra 'Never give up', and Lord help anyone who violates that - including his late father, a Hungarian immigrant.

'My father gave up. He was an alcoholic and died 15 years ago. He was very difficult to be around, totally unsupportive of my desire to dance. He was stereotypical in that he believed dancing was not a profession for a man. As a result, we had a very strained relationship.

'To me, he could have died earlier as he only got in the way in the first part of my life. I don't like talking about it as I don't want everyone to pity me and say "Poor Anton", but it was tough.

'We had very little money - my parents both held down two jobs, my mother was an auxiliary nurse and worked in a bus depot canteen and my father was a waiter and worked in an engineering factory - and my mother taught us to get by with sheer hard graft.

'I was never expected to do well at school or get an academic job. Because my parents were both foreign [his mother was originally from Spain] they didn't grasp the concept of education in the way they do here. It was all about the work ethic: you work hard, you commit to something, you get paid.

'What made me most angry was that my father threw that away with his drink problem. I could never accept that, not while my mother was always working and supporting me. Over the years she has been my banker, my advice-giver. She hardly had any money but she always supported my dancing.

'It should have gone against everything she taught me - I was not making any money - but she admired my determination. Like her, I refused to give up.'

Anton was 14 when he accompanied his older sister Veronica to a dance class near his home in Sevenoaks, Kent. They were short on boys and Anton was dragged in by the teacher. 'I couldn't complain because I got to dance with all the girls,' he laughs. 'And the rest, as they say, is history.'

Today, Anton is lusted after by just as many women as his fellow Strictly professional dancers Brendan Cole and Vincent Simone, although he perhaps attracts an older generation - Esther Rantzen said that every woman needs half an hour with Anton.

For ten years he has been cutting a swathe through the professional dance scene with his partner Erin Boag. Now, Anton says he feels so strongly about dance that he believes everyone in this country should be forced to learn - right down to schoolchildren.

'Boys may baulk at the suggestion, but dance instills values in people, particularly ballroom. It is about asking permission to dance with a woman, being polite and always thinking of others. I believe it would benefit the whole of British society if dancing was part of the curriculum.

'And I absolutely refute the suggestion that learning to dance is difficult. You may never reach a professional standard, but everyone can capture the essence of dancing.'

Anton is smiling, as he rightly should be. A dancer at the top of his profession, with an even rosier future ahead of him. But does he ever wish his father was here to see it?

Anton shakes his head: 'I couldn't care less, darling. He did me no favours while he was alive. Dancing is my only motivation, it gave me a way out of an unhappy life and a direction. That is the only message I would like to pass on to others.'

And with a flamboyant twirl and a flash of that pearly-white grin, he's off.

JAMES JORDAN, 29, joined in the fourth series of Strictly Come Dancing. His celebrity dance partners have included Georgina Bouzova and Gabby Logan.

Sadly, for James Jordan his dreams of dancing his way to the Strictly final were scuppered when he and partner Gabby Logan were voted off in week four of the latest series, when pitched against Penny Lancaster and Ian Thwaites.

'We didn't deserve to go out so early on,' he says. 'Gabby was a great dancer and I really enjoyed teaching her.

'Unlike some of the other couples in Strictly, Ola - my wife and dance partner - and I are still young, so we feel like we've yet to reach our peak.

'Strictly takes up all our time for at least three months a year, but as soon as that's over we're straight back into competing and training, particularly in the Latin speciality. In fact, Ola and I have got the British Open coming up in 2008 and we're really excited.'

James, however, relished the challenge of taking on a husband-and-wife pairing with Ola, who partnered Gabby's husband, former Scottish rugby player Kenny, to the ninth week.

'For the first time during our Strictly history - we joined in season four after returning from Hong Kong and being spotted at competitions - Ola and I have made two great friends.

'We were all able to hang out together, work together and enjoy each other's company without worrying about any romantic issues.'

Now, thanks to the fame the couple have gained on Strictly, they are able to earn a good living from their passion.

'For a long time, the only way to make money from dance was to live in places like Hong Kong, where dance classes are popular, or work on cruise ships.

'Ola and I still do those things but we've now got the luxury of being able to spend proper time working on our own competitions and routines as well.

'I'd never want to give up teaching, because I find it a great way of interacting with people and it is so rewarding to watch them improve, but Ola and I still have a lot to prove. We've still got a championship to win.'

VINCENT SIMONE, 28, has starred in two series. His dance partners have included Louisa Lytton and Stephanie Beacham.

Flamboyant Italian tango champion Vincent Simone and his partner Flavia Cacace have hit the headlines this year thanks to Flavia's 'are they/ aren't they' relationship with Strictly partner Matt di Angelo, but for Vincent this is irrelevant. He and Flavia live only to dance, perform and win competitions.

He says: 'Flavia and I are lucky. We have danced together for 12 years, we know everything about one another. We have won so many competitions now that we get to indulge our greatest love - performing.

'We have been invited on to so many shows, especially since starting on Strictly in season four, that our schedule is packed solid. In fact, apart from Strictly we've barely had a chance to teach this year.' For Vincent in particular, this is a great loss. His parents ran a dancing school in Italy and his younger sister teaches dance, too. Teaching is in his blood. His own individual dancing talent first became evident when he won the Italian dance championships as a teenager.

'As a result, my parents encouraged me to leave Italy when I was 16 because England had a better Latin dance scene and I needed to find a partner who was as good as me,' he explains. The third partner he auditioned after moving to Guildford in Surrey was Flavia, and the chemistry was instant. Together they danced to victory in the UK professional dance championships and in the World Argentine Tango championships. They also became a real-life couple, working, living and teaching together.

Nevertheless, Vincent is an incorrigible flirt. He admits: 'Of course I love the attention from women. I enjoy it when they want to pinch my bottom or chase me for my autograph.'

Essentially, however, it is all about the dancing. And no Strictly flirtations will get in the way. 'Flavia and I work together. We are a great team, you only need to look at us dance to see that.'

How to enter

For a chance to win a dancing lesson with Anton, James or Vincent, call:

0901 0301504

and leave your name and number.

Calls cost 25p from a BT line.

Or email your name and phone phone number to: dance@dmail.entries.co.uk

The lines will close at midnight tonight and the winner will be contacted shortly after. Unfortunately, the three winners will not be able to choose who they are taught by. The lessons will take place at a time and date to be arranged in the New Year. The winners will have to travel to meet the professional dancer. It doesn't matter if the winners have never danced before or not, and only women can apply. The Editor's decision is final.

No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards.

We are no longer accepting comments on this article.

Who is this week's top commenter? Find out now