Strictly star reveals her Glasgow selfie spot ahead of Hydro show

“Oh, I know the city well, especially Tollcross pool and the city centre, there are lots of great places to eat round there,” she says, enthusiastically. “But one of my favourite things is that statue, you know? The one with the traffic cone hat. I love that.”

She grins: “I’m definitely heading there for a selfie when we’re in Glasgow with the tour.”

Ellie Simmonds (Image: BBC)

The tour is Strictly Come Dancing Live, a mammoth, music-and-dance extravaganza which extends the joy of the hit TV show beyond the Christmas special into the otherwise gloomy and sparkle-free days of January and February.

Its last stop is a five-performance spectacular at the OVO Hydro from February 10 to 12, complete with a dazzling collection of this year’s contestants including Ellie and her professional partner Nikita Kuzmin, TV and radio presenter Fleur East and Vito Coppola, actor Will Mellor and Nancy Xu, Molly Rainford and Carlos Gu, Helen Skelton and Kai Widdrington, series winners Hamza Yassin and Jowita Przystal, and Tyler West and Dianne Buswell.

READ MORE: Strictly star Hamza on why Glasgow is a great place to spot wildlife

Tyler is also looking forward to returning to the city in which, most recently, he agreed, heroically, to be  ‘gunged’ on children’s TV.

“It was on Saturday Mash Up, which is filmed at BBC Scotland, and they asked if I’d mind getting slimed, so of course, I said no, not at all,” he grimaces, adding with a laugh: “I was having a panic attack trying to get that stuff out of my clothes. And I thought I’d be living my best life in children’s telly…”

He adds: “I actually had a great boys’ night out once in Glasgow, so I can’t wait to come back. I’ve always wanted to go to the Hydro, so this is going to be immense.

“I’ll be packing my long johns, though. It was FREEZING.”

Tyler West (Image: BBC)

Both Ellie, who left Strictly in week seven, and Tyler, whose Blackpool exit in week nine took everyone by surprise, were sad to have to hang up their dancing shoes.

“Dianne and I really did feel like we had so much left in the tank, so it was a shock to go out and judging by the response we got, the public was quite shocked too,” says DJ and TV presenter Tyler, whose professional partner was Dianne Buswell.

Janette Manrara (Image: Strictly Live)

“Doing Strictly was life-changing for me. When I was younger, I was not a confident child at all – I was the shyest kid. All my pals would be out on their scooters, I’d much rather sit in my bedroom, eating Rich Tea biscuits.

“Then, one day I decided I was sick and tired of being that person. I wanted to do stuff outside my comfort zone.”

He grins: “And nothing boosts your self-belief more than dancing on telly in front of millions of people. What’s the worst that can happen? You trip up – and I did, I got the steps wrong, but it was fine.”

Tyler planned to study film and television at university, but his first presenting gig came out of the blue, he says.

“I played handball with the England squad, then Team GB, when I was at school, and one day CBBC came to interview us at a training session,” he says.

“They said I was really good on camera, and did I want to come and do a bit of presenting with them?”

READ MORE: Exclusive pictures as Strictly stars meet their fans in Glasgow

He smiles: “And the rest is history. And if anything I do ignites conversations in people’s living rooms, or resonates with someone or makes someone smile, then that’s amazing, and it’s all I’ve ever wanted to do.”

Five-time Paralympian champion Ellie jokes that leaving Strictly was “harder than retiring from swimming.”

Ellie in Glasgow. (Image: PA)

She adds, seriously: “But I did feel really emotional leaving, it was honestly like a break-up. I cried properly sad tears when it was over, which is why it’s so good to be doing the tour and to be back with Nikita again.

“It’s great to get the chance to perform for people who love the TV show, and have voted for you and supported you.”

Ellie, who has achondroplasia – a rare genetic condition which causes a type of dwarfism – says agreeing to Strictly took her “right out” of her comfort zone.

She explains: “After Covid, I think we were all struggling a bit, weren’t we, with going out and trying to do normal things again? It was such a strange time and I don’t think we realised what we were all going through and the mental toll it took on us.

“I’m such an extrovert but I’d got used to being in that comfort zone. Doing Strictly was a way to get back out there for me.”

She grins: “I know, it was quite a way to do it. But I watched the show for years and years on Saturday night telly and getting the chance to do it meant everything to me.

“Nikita has been amazing, the way he has adapted the dances for me, the way he has taught me has been incredible. We showed in front of millions of people that anyone can learn to dance or do something out of their comfort zone.”

Ellie learned to swim when she was five and started competing when a local coach spotted her talent.

“I was always active, I hated being bored, I never sat in front of the telly,” she says. “Swimming was great for me, and I was doing well, competing alongside non-disabled swimmers, but I wasn’t winning medals.

“Watching the Athens Paralympics in 2004 was the turning point for me. I saw the swimmers winning medals and thought – that’s what I want to do. I want to win a gold medal at the Paralympics.”

At 13, Ellie won two golds - the second youngest Paralympian in British history to win a medal of any colour - at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games.

She has multiple medals from the European and World Championships, and a further three Paralympic golds.

“I don’t think there was ever one particular moment when I thought, oh, I’m really good at swimming, but I think it was when I was at my first World Championships in Durban, and I was still only 12, that I knew I was all right at it,” she says, smiling.

Until Strictly Live kicks off in January, Ellie and her boyfriend Matt are planning a quiet Christmas – sort of.

“I do try and relax,” grins Ellie. “But I get bored just sitting on the sofa.

“Next year will be busy - I am doing a documentary on disability in the care system which should be out around March or April. But for now I just can’t wait to get out on the Strictly tour. I want it to go as slowly as possible. I don’t want it to end.”

Strictly Come Dancing Live 2023 is at the Hydro from February 10 to 12. Visit strictlycomedancinglive.com for tickets and information.