Kevin Clifton begged ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ bosses to pair him with now-girlfriend Stacey Dooley.
The 37-year-old professional dancer convinced the Latin and ballroom dance competition’s director of choreography Jason Gilkison to partner him with the 33-year-old documentary maker for the 2018 series after he previously took part in a live dance show with an injured shin.
Speaking on the ‘The Kevin Clifton Show’ podcast, he told Stacey: "Once I heard you were doing it, I went over to Jason Gilkison and I was like, ‘Remember that time in ‘Burn the Floor’ when I had broken shins, and all these stress factors in my shins, and it was the difference between ‘Burn The Floor’ surviving, you know, going bust or going to Broadway?’
"He was like, ‘Can you just get a big performance out tonight?’ I said, ‘Yes, I’ll do it’, and I took loads of ibuprofen and got on stage.
"And I went over to Jason that day when I found out you were doing Strictly and I was like, ‘Remember that time, what I did for you?’ And he was like, ‘What do you want?’
"And I was like, ‘Well, I heard that Stacey Dooley of documentary fame might be doing ‘Strictly’, if there’s any chance…’ And I really pushed for you to be my partner, which I don’t usually do."
The pair went on to win the Glitterball trophy before confirming their relationship in 2019.
Meanwhile, the former ‘Strictly’ dancer – who recently announced his departure from the BBC One show after seven years – has insisted that despite the big reveal being pre-recorded, the dancers actually do learn who they will be paired up with when co-host Tess Daly makes the announcements on the first episode.
He said: "I want to crush these myths, one of which is that we all know who we are going to be partnered with.
"People assume because the launch show is pre-recorded not live, they think we know who we are going to be partnered with.
"I promise you we never know until that moment that Tess announces it … I think [producers] want that reaction."
Kevin Clifton begged Strictly bosses to pair him with Stacey Dooley
