We can all learn from Bill Bailey’s joyous journey on Strictly Come Dancing

The comedian has defied expectations on ‘Strictly’, performing brilliantly and refusing to play the fool. We can repay him by taking up a new challenge of our own, writes Rupert Hawksley

Saturday night fever: Oti Mabuse and Bill Bailey are a must-see combo (PA)

Strictly Come Dancing is the sort of show most of us like to have on in the background. A bit of sparkle to liven up the chopping of the vegetables or the laying of the table. But every year, there is a dancer who demands our full attention. John Sergeant; Ann Widdecombe; Judy Murray; Ed Balls – the moment they set either left foot on the dancefloor, it was a case of knives down, eyes up.

This year, that dancer is Bill Bailey. But there is a difference. The others held our rapt attention because they were all, in their own particular way, such hapless dancers. Terribly funny and very relatable but, alas, not much finesse. Rond de jambon, if you like. We expected Bailey, a 55-year-old comedian with eccentric hair and all the signs of a good appetite, to play the part. But he has resolutely refused to do so – and it has been a joy to see.  

Each week, Bailey and his partner Oti Mabuse have come out and danced with grace, precision and a bucketload of enthusiasm. In week one, the pair performed a rollicking, loose-limbed cha-cha-cha, which judge Craig Revel Horwood summed up as “dancing on hot coals after 10 double espressos”. Bailey has only improved since then, the highlight so far coming in week four with a hugely ambitious routine, set to The Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight”. The “king of pop and lock” received a well-deserved “10” from judge Shirley Ballas. The following week, a seductive American Smooth, in which Bailey and Mabuse glided around the dancefloor, proved that he has poise, as well as rhythm and showmanship.

There are lessons for us all in Bailey’s willingness to learn new skills, as well as his determination not to be defined by age or expectation – particularly so in this difficult, stifling year when the temptation to sit down under the cloud cast by Covid has, at times, felt overwhelming.

As Bailey has shown, it is never too late to take up something different, to throw off the shackles of habit and uncertainty and to rediscover a vigour for life. He has put everything into his Strictly experience and, along with the viewers, has been rewarded in spades. Life tends to be like that. 

Who knows how far Bailey will go in the competition, but even if his time on the show is soon over, Bailey has given us so much to smile about in these sombre times. He will go down as one of the Strictly greats.

The best way we can repay him, of course, is by giving ourselves a jolly good kick up the backside and embracing a new challenge – whatever age you are.

Yours,

Rupert Hawksley

Voices commissioning editor