Will Mellor has shared the special Strictly Come Dancing pre-show ritual he does in which he honours his late father. The actor, who is partnered with professional dancer Nancy Xu, appeared on Strictly: It Takes Two on Friday, December 2 - which aired just two hours before the live show which has been moved to a Friday this week due to the World Cup schedule.
During the show, Rylan Clark, who had been absent from the show he co-hosts with Janette Manrara for some time, revealed that Richie Anderson, who got kicked out of the competition during week three, would be returning to the studio to speak to some of the quarter-finalists - one of whom was Will.
Asking Will and his fellow castmate Molly Rainford if they had any pre-show rituals when they are on their own in their dressing room before taking to the stage Will, 46, revealed the three things he does.
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He said: "Well, me dad used to say I've got a head full of magic, and that's because I'm always looking at 'look, what's that?' 'who's over there?' and all that. So I have to take myself away for a little bit and just focus me head.
"And me and Nancy have a little moment together and just go 'right, we've got each other, we've got this, let's do it."
He then revealed the final part of his ritual, which is the most poignant - playing with the band on his little finger. The Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps star said: "And I've got my dad's ring on, so I always have a little moment [where I go] 'Alright dad, here we go. Let's go and smash it'.
"Yeah, that's it. I just try and make sure I focus and concentrate because if you get the dance right ... it just feels amazing when you get it right. But if you don't get it right, it feels awful. So, I just want to get it right on the night and then everything after that is just a bonus."
The actor - who will dance the foxtrot with Nancy this week - lost his father Bill during the pandemic just weeks after he was diagnosed with cancer in April 2020.
This little nugget of information comes just 24 hours after Will and Nancy spoke to Janette Manrara on the spin-off show and revealed that Nancy got "told off" by the BBC choreographer during last week's rehearsals for the charleston. Read more on that here.
Strictly Come Dancing will air on BBC One on Friday, December 2 at 8pm.
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