Strictly star Tilly Ramsay on dancing in Glasgow and how her Scottish gran inspires her

“We swam in the sea at Tynemouth,” she laughs, adding very quickly: “But we will not be doing that in Glasgow. We like it to be cold – but not THAT cold.

“I’ll be bringing plenty of woolly jumpers....”

Tilly is heading to the city this weekend, one of seven dazzling celebrities taking part in the Strictly Come Dancing Live Tour.

The TV presenter, chef and author will be pairing up with professional dancer Nikita Kuzmin, with whom she waltzed into week ten of the hit BBC ONE show in December having impressed the judges and charmed the viewing public.

Tilly is delighted to be back dancing with Nikita, who missed part of the live tour when he caught Covid.

“He’s feeling MUCH better, thankfully, and I’m so glad to be back dancing with him,” she beams. “It was lovely when Neil Jones stepped in, but I’m so happy to be back with Nikita.

“The tour has been a dream for me, it is so much fun. The TV show is amazing but the bonus of the tour is that we are all together in one big bubble rather than separate ones.

“And there’s a lot less pressure – it is still a competition, of course, but there is no dance off and no-one has to go home, so you can relax a bit more and enjoy it.”

Tilly admits to being “shocked” by the audience response so far - it kicked off in Birmingham on January 20.

“I can’t believe how loud they are,” she marvels.

“The first night, I peeked out from behind the curtain backstage, just to see what it was like, and I felt sick with fear seeing all those faces.

“But once we started the opening number, that adrenalin rush came and it was amazing. The atmosphere is incredible.

“At the studios, we were only ever allowed to have two family members there and it was a small audience, because of Covid, so it’s just great to see so many people, all those smiling faces out there cheering you on.”

She adds: “I know it’s going to be loud in Glasgow. During rehearsals, I was asking all the professionals which city they liked performing in and they all said the audiences in Glasgow were great.”

Tilly and Nikita are dancing their waltz, from week one of the series, and their Couple’s Choice, to Revolting Children from Matilda The Musical, which achieved a perfect score of 40 from the judges.

“It’s been lovely doing the waltz again, and seeing how we have improved since week one – and because it was the first dance of Strictly for both of us, because Nikita was new to the show, it feels really special,” says Tilly.

“And the Couple’s Choice – to be able to dance to that song, from my favourite musical…it was a dream.”

Tilly is the daughter of Scottish chef Gordon Ramsay, who grew up in Glasgow and ran a Michelin-starred restaurant in the city – the prestigious Amaryllis at One Devonshire Gardens – in the early Noughties.

She is a talented chef and presenter – her own cooking show, Matilda and the Ramsay Bunch, ran for five series and was nominated for three Children’s BAFTAs, and she released a cookbook in 2017.

She has also appeared on The Morning, Blue Peter, MasterChef Junior US and MasterChef: Australia, and she has a massive TikTok following - around nine and a half million people.

But it was Strictly, she says, which helped boost her confidence in herself.

“I talked a lot on the show about how it was making me do things outside my comfort zone,” she agrees. “Nikita and I had a saying in the training room – get comfortable with the uncomfortable.

“Strictly gave me much more confidence, in everything, really.”

She laughs: “It made me feel comfortable wearing high heels, which I NEVER did before. I used to spend all my time in tracksuits and hoodies, but once Strictly was finished I went dress shopping with my mum, I’d loved wearing those gorgeous dresses so much.”

Tilly is juggling her university studies – she is studying psychology – with the tour, which is at the Ovo Hydro from February 5 to 7.

Last year’s tour was cancelled due to Covid, so the entire cast and crew are delighted to be back on the road.

Dancing alongside Tilly and Nikita are series winners the EastEnders actor Rose Ayling-Ellis and Giovanni Pernice; Dragon’s Den star Sara Davies and Aljaž Skorjanec; baker John Whaite and Johannes Radebe; and CBBC presenter Rhys Stephenson and Nancy Xu.

Finalist AJ Odudu had to withdraw from both the TV series and the live tour because of an injury to her foot sustained in rehearsal, so her professional partner Kai Widdrington is dancing with Maisie Smith, who appeared in the 2020 series. Another 2020 contestant, The Wanted’s Max George, will also return to the dance floor for the live tour, now dancing with Katya Jones.

Professional dancers Amy Dowden, Neil Jones, Jake Leigh, Cameron Lombard, Luba Mushtuk and Jowita Przystal will also be part of the extravaganza, which features live music from the Strictly singers and band, and the judging panel will consist of Shirley Ballas, Craig Revel Horwood and Bruno Tonioli.

Janette Manrara, who recently stepped in to Zoe Ball’s shoes on Strictly’s sister show It Takes Two, is the new host of the live tour.

For Tilly, being back with her fellow contestants has been a blast.

“Taking part in Strictly for 10 weeks was a life-changing experience where I learnt to dance and made friends for life,” she says.

“I’m really looking forward to coming back to Glasgow too – I’ve visited with my dad a few times, but not for a while.”

Tilly’s biggest fan is also hoping to be in the audience.

Her gran, Helen – Gordon’s mum - sent her a touching video message during the TV series, because she could not be there in person.

“That was amazing, it even made Nikita cry,” grins Tilly.

“My nan is my best friend and biggest supporter in everything I do and when I was on the show she’d tell me every day how proud she was of what I was doing. Afterwards, she asked me to teach her a few things, which of course I did.

“When I told her I was doing the live tour she was delighted. She told me all about going dancing in Glasgow and going to see shows, and how she can’t believe it is her grand-daughter who is now going to be dancing up on the stage there.”

Tilly laughs: “She says she’ll bring all her friends from the bingo along….”

Strictly is at the Hydron on Saturday at 3pm and 8pm, Sunday ay 1.30pm and 6.30pm and Monday at 7.30pm.

Tickets cost from £35 to £95 (price bands vary at each venue) and are available from strictlycomedancinglive.com