Stephanie Cage - Writer

I wonder how often those words have been uttered over the course of the 13 years that Strictly Come Dancing has been aired? The celebrities who speak them are usually referring to the intense roller-coaster ride of a single series, but those of us who have been fans from the start have travelled a much longer and more rambling route. When the show started in May 2004 I was an English graduate, ballroom dance lover and aspiring writer in my late twenties, living near London and working in market research.  Over the years, my Strictly journey and my writing journey have become intricately entwined, thanks to an idea I had as soon as I heard that there was going to be a competitive dancing show on TV again for the first time since Come Dancing hung up its dancing shoes.   I’d noticed at university that the dancing world was something of a hotbed of gossip and romance, and thought it would be fun to combine a dancing show with something more relationship-focused – think ‘Str...

I know Strictly has been annoying to dancing purists (increasingly so as the series have gone on), but for me it's been a lifesaver.  Suddenly it's no longer embarrassing to admit that I have a passion for paso and a taste for tango, or that for many years I've been a huge fan of Anton du Beke and Erin Boag .  (And for the record, yes, I do think they should give Anton Bruce's spot when he finally taps off into the sunset, and yes, I do still hanker for Arlene's honest feedback and encyclopedic knowledge of dance, although I'm pleased that the BBC have at last found a worthy successor to her in Darcey Bussell ).  For me, Strictly has filled many long, dark, depressing winter evenings with sparkles, glamour and excitement. I'm always slightly at a loss when a series ends, so I was delighted to discover on Christmas Day that my lovely husband had tracked down tickets for the live tour when it visited Sheffield Arena in February.  And just to prove that I ...