Legendary comedian reveals he turned down Strictly Come Dancing after girlfriend worried about show curse
LEGENDARY comedian Frank Skinner said how he turned down the chance to star on Strictly Come Dancing.
The funnyman revealed he’s said no to putting his dancing shoes on countless times after being approached by BBC bosses.
Sitting down with Jonathan Ross on his show, Frank, 67, said his partner was the reason behind his decision.
“I’ve been asked to do Strictly – a few times,” he said.
“My partner persuaded me to go on a lads weekend to Amsterdam instead – she thought there would be less temptation,” he laughed.
Opening up about his long-term relationship with Cath Mason, he said: “We’ve been together for 23 years and I think it’s good for a comedian to be in a long-term relationship because it means awkward silences don’t frighten me.
“When we do argue, I’ve always said when you watch us argue, it would be like going to a gig to see a band – we start with some new stuff and then eventually we roll out our greatest hits.”
The Absolute Radio host, who announced he is leaving the station in May this year, has been with Cath since 2001.
He revealed that he proposed to the comedy agent four times, but she turned him down because she “thinks marriage puts a hoodoo on a relationship.”
The couple have an 11-year-old son together called Buzz Cody.
As well as wanting to dodge the ‘Strictly Curse’, he admitted that he’s a little shy.
“I’m so self-conscious. I love Michael McIntyre’s The Wheel and I got offered to be on it today and I can’t do it. I love the show but there’s a bit where they dance.”
The Strictly ‘curse’ is a phenomenon that hits celebrities and their dance partners during their time on Strictly Come Dancing.
Due to the harsh schedules, sexy dance moves and close quarters with their partners, their off-screen romances sometimes suffer as a result.
Strictly became regarded as “cursed” after a series of very public break-ups from show participants – and ever since, more and more fan favourites have succumbed.
Over the course of 18 series of the BBC favourite, nearly a dozen couples have split up thanks to their time on the show.
Neil and Katya Jones, Stacey Dooley and Sam Tucknott, Dianne Buswell and Anthony Quinlan, Seann Walsh and Rebecca Humphries, Karen and Kevin Clifton, Louise and Jamie Redknapp all split during or shortly after Strictly.
Frank is currently on his 30 Years of Dirt tour, which he thought was a fitting name for his style of comedy.
“My stand-up career has almost been an endless stream of filth and it’s not really been my idea,” he explained.
“I often start out with a lot of clean material in it but then the audience laughs a lot louder at the dirty stuff so I got rid of the clean stuff and stuck with it. They were the opposite of a filter, the audience – they left all the muck in.”
Jonathan asked him how his material is perceived by the Church as Frank is a devout Catholic.
“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with dirty jokes, it’s about targets and stuff like that,” he replied.
“I’m personally very happy about the woke movement because I don’t have any desire to go up and be cruel or unkind to anybody.”
In March this year he announced that his Absolute Radio show is being axed after 15 years.
Frank’s show launched in 2009, winning a cult following with its mix of witty banter and observations on current events, all mixed in with good music.
He announced the news during his regular Saturday breakfast show this morning — adding that it wasn’t his decision to depart.
In a pre-recorded segment for The Frank Skinner Show, he revealed: “You know every year, about this time, we’ve just celebrated our 15th anniversary on the show, so obviously that means the new contract is coming, and every year I do self-deprecating jokes about the fact that we probably won’t get it renewed? Guess what?! Yeah, we didn’t!
“So, um, we’re not just going now, I’m not going to say bye and that’s the end […] we’ve got some notice to serve, but um…. yeah, but no, that’s it!
“We had a good run but I realise that in recent times but I am ever-more becoming Grandad from The Simpsons, but even so, I’m not going to pretend I took it well.”