Strictly Come Dancing’s Simon Rimmer has warned that he may get emotional when he dedicates his week two performance to the victims of the Hillsborough disaster.
The TV chef, 54, will take to the BBC One stage on Saturday night with a waltz to Rodgers and Hammerstein hit You’ll Never Walk Alone – the Liverpool FC anthem famously sung at a vigil for the victims last year.
With less than a day to go before the show, the Liverpool supporter told BBC Two spin-off programme It Takes Two: “I am genuinely concerned I may have a few tears at the end of it.
We’re pretty sure biting isn’t part of the Waltz… pic.twitter.com/xCUfrX6yOA
— BBC Strictly✨ (@bbcstrictly) September 27, 2017
“My dancing will be dedicated to them (Hillsborough victims), so I have to do them justice as well as us.”
After a week of training with partner Karen Clifton, he said he had “loved” the change of pace with the romantic dance.
Strictly’s new head judge Shirley Ballas, 57, also appeared on the show to share her thoughts on the competition so far and piled praise on Debbie McGee who, she said, “represents all the women from my era”.
This weekend will see the dance contest’s first elimination following both the judges’ scores and the public vote.
But in the event of a tie, Shirley will have to make the final call about who goes home.
She said: “I don’t think that’s a pleasant role, because everybody tries so hard.
“I will do it without fear nor favour, but it will absolutely kill me.”