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Strictly Come Dancing: Questions and Answers with Alison Hammond
Other | Wednesday 8th October 2014 | Osh
This season of Strictly Come Dancing is super special, because 2014 marks the tenth anniversary of the show. The first season aired on the 15th of May 2004, and since then many celebrities have trod the boards in the quest for ballroom glory. Long-term presenter Sir Bruce Forsyth has stepped back from fronting the show, with Tess Daly now being joined by the lovable Claudia Winkleman as Strictly’s hosts. The judges have become much loved figures of British Culture, and this year the regular judges – Bruno Tonioli, Craig Revel Horwood and Len Goodman – are joined by a legend of dance, the amazing Darcy Bussel. The cast of stars in star studded indeed, with unlikely dancer Gregg Wallace (Masterchef), being joined by presenter Caroline Flack, and already experience pop dancer Frankie Bridge, from The Saturdays.
Gala Bingo fans have another reason to look forward to this year’s show – Gala ambassador Alison Hammond will be competing. Alison is one of the most popular members of the Gala community, and we have been lucky enough to get the inside scoop on her training so far.
Alison became a reality TV star after a stint in the Big Brother House in 2002, and since then has appeared on I’m A Celebrity..., and is now a presenter on This Morning. She also works as an ambassador for Gala Bingo, and was part of the recent Gala fundraiser that won a Guinness World Record and raised thousands of pounds for charity. Gala hosted a game of bingo on the set of Coronation Street, except this was no ordinary game – this game was played using the biggest bingo balls in the world. 90 custom built balls were used, and over £10,000 was raised for the Male Cancer Awareness Campaign (MCAC).
We met up with Alison to ask her some questions about her time on the Strictly rollercoaster so far, and we can reveal that she and her dance partner Aljaz are taking the competition incredibly seriously – Aljaz won the competition last year, and he and Alison are even skipping lunch breaks in order to perfect their routines.
I’m taking it very seriously so is Aljaz my dance partner he won the show last year with Abby Clancy and he is already working me hard after 1 session. There is no messing around from 9am when we get in the studio
We won’t reveal what Alison’s favourite dance is, but we can tell though that it is super sultry, and has only three steps.
The Salsa dancing routines and the costumes I love Salsa music and the costumes are just so amazing.
Curiously, when we asked her who her favourite judge is, she admitted that she finds one normally sympathetic judge a bit intimidating – but praised another of the judges, saying that he’s really friendly and always has a kind word for her backstage.
Well so far my favourite judge is Craig he’s been extremely friendly to me backstage and really welcomed me. Len scares me a bit but I want to hear good comments from him it’s important I impress him when I’m dancing.
We can’t wait to watch Alison flying the Gala flag on Strictly this season – if you want to read the full interview and learn even more about Alison’s time on the show so far, you can find the full interview here
Watch the interview here:
