Kevin Clifton has revealed he was turned down from Strictly Come Dancing twice before being cast in the show.
The professional dancer opened up about being rejected from the hit BBC series while speaking to fellow dancer Aljaz Skorjanec for a Strictly documentary, set to air tonight.
“I applied with Karen,” he shared.
Kevin continued: “She got the job, I didn’t get it. I had long black hair, eyeliner, black fingernails.”
He recalled: “They said, ‘Yeah we’d love to take Karen. But not that guy – we have no need for this gothic scarecrow who thinks he’s the rock star of the ballroom.'”
Read more: Strictly Come Dancing: Will Bayley injures his foot during training
Aljaz then asked Kevin if he auditioned as a goth, to which the Strictly star replied: “Yeah!”
Kevin then revealed he was turned down again for a second time the following year.
He continued: “Next year you and Janette both got the job, I got told no again.
“I got turned down twice.
“And then they went to film the trailer for the show that year. The idea for the trailer was that all these Strictly stars would be dancing with an invisible partner, who’s it gonna be?
“That invisible partner was me. I just wanted a job. That’s me in the Morphsuit, carrying all the Strictly pros about, but being rubbed out of the trailer.
“And then about two, three days later is when I got the call [to be on the show].”
View this post on Instagram
Kevin’s fans were quick to praise the pro dancer in the post’s comments section, telling him he should be very proud of himself.
“So proud of you Kev,” one began.
“Just shows that no matter what, keep going and you’ll eventually get there. So deserving of everything that comes your way.”
“If at first you don’t succeed,” wrote a second.
Another proud supporter chipped in: “You kept going and it’s a hard thing to do but look where you are now.”
In 2013, Kevin was partnered with Good Morning Britain host Susanna Reid and they finished as joint runners up with Natalie Gumede.
The following year, he finished as a runner up again with partner Frankie Bridge and again in 2015 with partner Kellie Bright and in 2016 with Louise Redknapp.
In 2018, Kevin finally won the Glitterball trophy along with celebrity partner – and now girlfriend – Stacey Dooley. For this year’s Strictly Come Dancing he’s partnered with TV host Anneka Rice.
Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and let us know what you think of this story.