Nick Knowles is ready to show his softer side on Strictly Come Dancing
The DIY: SOS star and dance partner Luba Mushtuk speak to Radio Times about their hopes and fears for Strictly Come Dancing 2024.
DIY: SOS star Nick Knowles is leaving behind the world of home improvements to take on the Strictly challenge – but as it turns out, he’s just finally entering the family business.
With everyone in his family involved in performance except him, will professional dancer Luba Mushtuk find a diamond in the rough – or the black sheep of a showbiz family?
Nick, you’re obviously more used to hammering boards than treading the boards…
Nick: Very good. Did you work on that one overnight?
I did…but seriously, what’s your experience of dance?
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Nick: As a kid, whenever I heard music, I would dance. In your teenage years, you’re told it looks a bit silly and you lose that. I’ve got three sisters who are all dancers.
They taught me pliés and demi-pliés and I joined in until I was about seven or eight. Coming from a very traditional family, my father said, "Now you’re going to play rugby." But all my life I’ve gone to watch the ballet. I love the Northern Ballet. I saw Margot Fonteyn dance with Rudolf Nureyev when I was a child. My niece is in a West End musical and my brother writes musicals. I was the one that moved away from it – I’d like to unlock that.
Luba: It’s actually proven that dance makes you happier, because it releases endorphins in your brain.
Do you hope viewers see you in a different way?
Nick: People know I ride a motorbike. I play rugby. Guys come up wanting a pint with me. DIY SOS is a lot of blokes and taking the mickey, but we have a soft side. I want people to see me and decide to do a dance class. Dance is an amazing, bonding thing.
You met each other before on the DIY SOS Strictly Special. How was that?
Luba: We did a little dance for the programme, and I thought Nick would be so good on Strictly. He also made me work so hard! I loved it though.
Nick: I’m paying for that now!
How is Nick doing, Luba?
Luba: He’s pretty good, he’s just really tough on himself. I always do the choreography for the person. It’s like a tailored suit – a black, silky Tom Ford suit – of steps. I try to see what looks better or feels better.
Nick: If I’m doing something, I go at it 100 per cent, and in the process, I’m a little bit serious about it. Luba is constantly saying to me, "Remember to smile! Remember to breathe! And stop trying to lead me, because you don’t know where we’re going". Luba has this amazing technique of essentially leading me while making it look like I’m leading her!
I like having new adventures all the time – you just have to be brave enough to put yourself out there to fail. Nobody ever learnt anything from succeeding. I don’t mind failing in front of people. It’s whether I can get up again and have another go.
What are you hoping to get out of the experience?
Nick: I’d like to learn to dance…
Luba: Win it!
Nick: Of course I want to win it. People pretend they don’t. I don’t think I will win it, but if I went into this half-heartedly, I would never forgive myself.
How are you enjoying being Strictly-fied?
Nick Knowles: Actually, that’s a shock – the whole hair and makeup and glitter and spray tan.
Luba Mushtuk: Is this your first-ever spray tan?
Nick Knowles: My first-ever spray tan. My first ever pink shirt, I think. My first ever sequin.
Luba Mushtuk: I think you should keep it.
Nick Knowles: Just for a regular Wednesday night out in London. Yeah, so, there’s a lot of things to come to terms with. There is an avalanche of "new" to come to terms with. But it is a great adventure, and it is incredibly exciting and exhilarating and terrifying all at the same time. And it’s a long time since I’ve been genuinely terrified of something.
Are there any dances you’re particularly nervous about?
Nick: I’m slightly terrified of fast ones, like the jive.
Luba: You will be fantastic at them. Everyone will be expecting you to do something slow and elegant, and then you go, "Ha! Jive."
Nick: See, Luba is permanently positive about this. How is she going to get a big unit like me moving around the floor and not look like the Honey Monster? But Luba says she can, it just feels a long way away at the moment… I’m 6'2. I’ve got a 15-inch chest. I’m 17-and-a-half stone.
Luba: You’re going to lose it.
Nick: I’ve already lost 11 kilos!
A condensed version of this interview appears in the latest issue of Radio Times
Strictly Come Dancing continues at 7pm this Saturday on BBC One and iPlayer.
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