Tony Blackburn addresses Strictly future as he quips famous pal was ‘absolutely dreadful'
Tony Blackburn
Tony Blackburn has revealed whether he has set his sights on BBC One's Strictly Come Dancing in an exclusive interview with Express.co.uk. The BBC Radio 2 DJ also good-naturedly poked fun at his friend John Sergeant's "awful" performance on the show.
In a wider chat about keeping his home gas-safe with Gas Safe Register, the 81-year-old radio legend admitted that dancing was not one of his many skills. Asked if he'd ever considered giving Strictly a go, Tony confirmed: "Not really. I mean, I've never been invited to join Strictly Come Dancing. I'm the world's worst dancer.
"My wife actually was an actress and she also taught dance - but she gave up on it with me," he quipped. "I've no sense of rhythm at all and it's funny because a lot of musicians don't.
"They're very good at sitting down and playing the music, which I used to do, but when you get up and dance... We're not very good. Not everybody, but I'm just hopeless and I don't enjoy dancing.
However, Tony did express enthusiasm for the show, adding: "I love watching Strictly Come Dancing. I don't watch it religiously but duck into it now and then.
John Sergeant on Strictly
"But I've never been invited to do it and I wouldn't want to do it," he admitted. I mean, there was one guy who was awful on it... John Sergeant.
"I mean, I could do that, because he was awful," Tony teased, before revealing that he and John had enjoyed a friendly chat about the show after he appeared on it in 2008.
"We went to school together actually," Tony revealed. "We were on the cricket team together at Millfield and we met up outside The House of Commons and we hadn't seen one another for a bit.
"He said, 'Hi Tony.' He was eating fish and chips. And I said, 'God, John, you were funny on that Strictly. You were absolutely awful.'
Tony Blackburn on BBC Radio 2
"He said, 'Yeah, but I kept getting voted to come back.' You know, that's the fun of it.
"Some people take it a bit too seriously," Tony opined. "I like seeing people who can't do it.
"I mean, John was a classic because he was absolutely dreadful... But he knew it!"
With the 2024 series of Strictly set to return this autumn, there are already rumours swirling about who could be in the lineup, with names like Hannah Waddingham, Roman Kemp and Gino D'Acampo already cropping up.
Elsewhere in the interview, Tony spoke about the importance of grandparents getting clued up on gas safety, as nine in ten (86%) UK grandparents provide some form of childcare for their grandchildren during the week, according to research from Gas Safe Register.
The research goes on to reveal that, despite nearly half (46%) of grandparents claiming to be more clued up on home safety measures than their adult children, only 16% were able to correctly identify all the seven crucial warning signs that indicate gas appliances in the home could be faulty or unsafe.
Radio veteran Tony Blackburn OBE has teamed up with Gas Safe Register to help the nation's grandparents (and entire families) get clued up on how to be gas-safe in the home this winter.
To find a local Gas Safe registered engineer in your area, and for further gas safety tips this winter and beyond, visithttps://www.GasSafeRegister.co.uk or call 0800 408 5500.