Emmerdale's Lawrence Robb details previous dance experience as he takes a break from soap for Strictly

Lawrence Robb has opened up on his previous dance experience ahead of his Strictly Come Dancing appearance.

Following his announcement as part of the Strictly 2026 cast, fans were quick to point out the Emmerdale might have an upper hand as he had studied at The Dance School of Scotland and has multiple musical theatre credits.

However, in an exclusive interview with Radio Times, Robb has poured water on these claims, admitting he has "a teeny bit of basic dance experience" but not of the calibre of the professional dancers on the show.

"I can give you a solid step click, and that's about it," Robb explained. "When it comes to Latin, ballroom, absolutely not. So I think Jowita's got her work cut out for her, but I'm looking forward to helping her work through that."

Robb, perhaps best known to viewers as Mackenzie Boyd on Emmerdale, will be taking a break from the soap to appear on Strictly.

He told Radio Times: "We won't go into storylines, but you won't see as much of Mackenzie on the show while I'm on the ballroom."

While Robb didn't go into detail how his temporary exit might play out, his co-star Emma Atkins revealed that Mackenzie was written out of the ITV soap "last minute".

Speaking to The Sun at the Inside Soap Awards, Atkins said: "We were filming a scene where we had to get him out so he could go and do it as he’d just got the phone call [from Strictly] and they wrote him out very quickly."

Adding that he dropped viewers a hint about his Strictly stint, she added: "He has this moment where he tells Charity he is going to work in Germany, and at the end of the scene I say ‘go on then, you may as well go’ and he does this little flick [like a shimmy] and I was like ‘the audience are going to know’, it was very very well done."

Lawrence shimmied onto the dance floor last weekend during the launch show, in which it was revealed he was paired with pro, Jowita Przystał.

"I don't think it's properly sunk in yet. There's been so much that's happened in such a short period of time that the overwhelming sense of everything is still all very real," Robb told Radio Times.

Przystał added: "It's a roller coaster right now at the moment. But I love it and every day I'm getting to know a little bit more about Lawrence, and I'm just so happy we're going on that journey together."

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.