Dan and Tilly have personified Kipling’s poem If in this year’s Strictly, I feel.
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
……
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son
After a tongue-lashing from Craig or words of praise from Cynthia, Dan’s ready with the same grin, a perky thumbs up and a thank you.
Similarly, Tilly is adept at bouncing back from disappointment and not investing too much in the prospect of success.
Sometimes it can be more difficult for an early favourite with dance experience - albeit in a different genre - who ends up getting a mixed reception from the judges and audience at home. Such has been the case for Rhys. And who could blame him if he had some hopes and expectations going into the competition?
He is a really good dancer. He excels at Street Dance - and possibly even out-danced Nancy when that was their Couple’s Choice. But judging from demeanour and facial expressions, he has been more velcro than teflon in response to some negative critiques for other dances. (I would be even more crestfallen, I’m sure, so I feel for him.)
While I think the producers have made good choices for partnerships this year - who could imagine Rose with anyone other than Giovanni - I would like to have seen Rhys with someone like Dianne, who could surely be a children’s TV presenter in another life and would be able to bring out Rhys’s latent CBBC zaniness more. And maybe Nancy would have found her inner twinkle more with someone else too.
I’ve just read that Rhys is an ambassador for a children’s mental health charity and I’d like to think he will be able to take all his experiences in the competition forward into that role in a positive way.
Just hope he isn’t haunted too much by Tess’s faux concern!