We were so sad to see Sara Davies leave Strictly on Sunday. But the Dragon’s Den star has said getting the chance to be on the show really was a dream come true and that dancing with Aljaz Skorjanec was the icing on the cake.
“It was always an ambition of mine to appear on Strictly,” she says speaking from her Teesside home.
“I’ve been a fan for years. But before I became a Dragon, I knew there was very little chance of it as the only time I was on TV was on shopping channels, selling items from my business Crafters Companion. On joining Dragon’s Den, I began to think that I might be asked to join Strictly – and then I was. My dream came true!
Her dad had reservations
But Sara’s dad, who used to dabble in ballroom dancing, had his reservations about his daughter hitting the dancefloor.
“My lovely dad, Frank who, back in the day, did some ballroom dancing himself and doesn’t mince his words, never thought it would! ‘You’re just not good enough, kid,’ he’d laugh. He was probably only half joking, though. Having danced himself 50-odd years ago, he knew just how difficult it was.”
How did he react when Sara told him she was going to be part of it?
She laughs: “He saw it being announced and, being frank by name and by nature, he said, ‘Let’s hope you can prove us wrong, kidda’ when I called him later that morning.
“After he watched us rehearse the tango in week four of the competition when we went on to be awarded four “’nines’ and topped the leader board, he had tears in his eyes and said to Aljaz: ‘How come you’ve taught her to dance like that in just three and a half days when I couldn’t manage to do the tango properly in three and a half years!’.”
It’s been an emotional rollercoaster
In addition to the physical challenges being a competitor on Strictly entails, Sara has also found herself going on something of an emotional ‘journey’.
“The range of emotions I’ve experienced, well, it’s like nothing else. I was advised Strictly would be a real rollercoaster but I thought, ‘I’m strong – I’ll be able to handle whatever it throws at me.’ But, oh my word, the devastation when you’re at the bottom of the leader board – like I was in week one. I was so disappointed in myself. But then, when I topped it, the feelings of elation carried me through all week.”
Dancing with Aljaz and the ‘Strictly curse’
Sara can’t speak highly enough of her dance partner, Aljaz, and the pair have formed a lifelong friendship.
“He’s just amazing. We got on as soon as we met, he’s become a friend for life,” she says.
“Aljaz is looking after my boys while we have this chat,” she laughs. “Right now, he’s in the conservatory with them and the three of them are playing with the new toys he’s bought them. Oliver (7) and Charlie (4) really didn’t like me being in Strictly to begin with. Why did I keep having to go to London? But all that changed when they met Aljaz. He went out of his way to pay loads of attention to the boys and now they love him. We all do.”
Does this include Sara’s husband, Simon whom she met while she was still at school?
“I’ll start off by saying I wouldn’t have been able to live my Strictly dream without Simon,” she replies.
“He’s been so supportive. The first time Simon and Aljaz met each other was actually on our wedding anniversary. Aljaz and I had just done our first day of rehearsals and Aljaz ate dinner with us at home that evening. He really went out of his way to make Simon feel comfortable with the fact that another man would, essentially, be monopolising me for however long I lasted in the competition.
“He suggested that he and Simon spend some time together, have a few beers and talk about football! It was lovely seeing them getting on so well. Simon gets on very well with Aljaz’s wife Janette – as do I.
“The four of us feel like we’ve known each other for years and years, and we’ve been on quite a few double dates together. Long may that continue!”
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