By the last week of Strictly where the judges are awarding full marks... would any of the dancers actually have a chance of making it into a real dance competition?
No, nowhere close I’m afraid! That’s not to say they don’t get very good for the amount of training they do receive! But you can’t really learn correct cha cha technique in a week, no matter how talented you are.
Strictly is also a very different environment from a real competition - at real comps you have rounds where 20 or so couples dance on the floor at the same time, and you are marked through to the next round, or you aren’t. The music will have the correct beats per minute for the particular dance but you don’t know in advance what song is going to play. Then in the final there are 6 couples and you’re ranked 1 to 6. You need to be able to lead or follow and adapt your routine no matter what song is playing. The celebs couldn’t do this with the training they get on strictly.
Is there a lot of pressure to look a certain way or have a certain body shape, like in ballet?
Yes - and while hopefully things are changing now - pretty brutal comments from teachers about weight and other aspects of your “look” are very common sadly.
Why do you have to smile like a Stepford wife for certain dances?
Haha fantastic question! One of the aspects of ballroom and Latin I’m not a fan of is the “fake” performance that some couples give. You do dance better and look better as a dancer if you’re relaxed and genuinely look like you’re enjoying it, but I think there is a lot of copying other top dancers going on which can lead to some odd facial expressions to say the least!