Bill Bailey on nearly setting fire to the Strictly set and winning show

Strictly 2020 stars Ranvir Singh and Bill Bailey were reunited on Lorraine this morning.

Bill video called in to the show and spoke to host Ranvir about winning this years’ series of Strictly.

“I‘m still in a bit of a daze really, Ranvir. I got in and we had a glass of wine. Then today, I’ve just been pottering around. Yesterday I didn’t really know what to do. I’ve been going through messages and texts, lots of lovely messages from people. But no it hasn’t really sunk in yet.” – Bill Bailey

Bill also explained how he almost caused a fire on the set after he and Jamie missed their ‘count on’ at the very beginning of the show. He said: “The stage manager said, ‘No I will count you in.’ We said ok… and then Jamie and I were like, ‘We are fine between the two of us we can count to eight’. And just as I said that, I kicked over one of the pyrotechnic boxes, tripped over that and nearly fell down the stairs. I was like, ‘We cant be left alone for a second’. I thought that would be a great way to start the show – Bill Bailey has ignited his trousers and the fire alarm goes off, and I fall over and set fire to the studio!”

Bill admitted that being in the final was an emotional experience and that it had made him think of his mum who passed away 15 years ago.

“It was quite emotional anyway as it was going to be the last time we were dancing. But it did make me think of my mum, firstly, because my mum died 15 years ago and I did think about her a lot on the day. She loved ballroom dancing. In fact, she wanted me to take it up when I was a kid.

“This would have been her proudest moment. It also made me think of my dad as we heard during the day about the new restrictions… it almost made me want to give more in the performance, in a way.” 

On his choice of song for his dance on Saturday, ‘The Show Must Go On’, he said: “It’s a powerful song anyway. Before we knew about the restrictions I was thinking it was an anthem for our industry, the whole industry that has been so devastated by the pandemic but then I thought, no it’s more than that, it means we have to find some strength to get through this. It seemed the moment to talk about it when we came off stage.”

Speaking about ‘Dad Dancing’ he said: “I think it always makes people feel nervous. I don’t want to be that guy, shuffling around. My hope is that me having this success will mean more men of my age might consider taking up a dance class or maybe just getting fitter.”

Lorraine airs weekdays from 9am on ITV, STV and UTV.