Graeme Hall opens up on past dance competitions ahead of Strictly Come Dancing

Graeme Hall has been dubbed something of a dark horse by Strictly Come Dancing viewers as details emerged about his past dance experience.

Graeme, best known as The Dogfather, first began dancing at a charity event in 2012 and said it was a "dream come true" to be on Strictly after a stroke made him think he'd never be able to dance again, having given it up in 2019.

The TV presenter has been paired with Lauren Oakley, and they are both eager to get out onto the dancefloor and take on a challenge he's never experienced before.

"Well, there's competitions and there's competitions, right?" Graeme told Radio Times. "I'd got involved in a charity event in 2012, and then I carried on dancing as a hobby. And I did some beginner and novice competitions, in village halls and all that round the country."

Graeme noted that the competitions were "great fun, but nothing like this [Strictly]".

He added: "Oh my goodness. I mean, in that launch show we were already doing things that I never did in the five years when I was dancing. Lifts, drops... But we did it and it was really good."

Looking ahead, Graeme is keen to learn a dance he has never done before, including a Paso Doble and a Viennese Waltz.

Lauren Oakley told Radio Times that she reckons Graeme will be "great at a Paso Doble" as he has "a really good dance face".

As for what she's looking forward to teach, the pro added: "I think the Viennese Waltz because I know how much Graeme really wants to do it, and I also really like choreographing a Viennese Waltz. I think it's very music dependent."

Strictly Come Dancing continues on Saturday 26 September at 6:15pm on BBC One and iPlayer.

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Authors

Katelyn Mensah is the Senior Entertainment Writer for Radio Times, covering all major entertainment programmes, reality TV shows and the latest hard-hitting documentaries. She previously worked at The Tab, with a focus on reality TV and showbiz news and has obtained a BA (Hons) in Journalism.