Strictly stars Karen Hauer and Gorka Marquez to reignite Firedance at Portsmouth Guildhall | Interview

The popular Strictly Come Dancing professionals are soundtracked by a sensational live band – expect to hear an eclectic mix of Latin, rock and pop music from artists such as Camilla Cabello, Jason Derulo, Gregory Porter, Gypsy Kings, J.Lo, Marc Anthony and many more.

When The Guide catches up with the show’s two stars on a Zoom call to chat about the tour, Karen is relaxing at home while Gorka is running late for our call, having been caught up in TV promo work.​

‘I take my resting very seriously now,’ says Karen with a smile. ‘I had a very long year last year – I had three tours back to back and then went straight into Strictly.’

Karen is currently the show’s longest-serving pro, having been there since 2012. In the latest series she danced with comic Jayde Adams in the show’s second all-female pairing. They were the fourth couple to be eliminated.

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‘I had such an amazing series dancing with Jayde and it was one of those things when once it was done, you know when you deflate a balloon,’ she mimes a balloon going down, ‘and it all just crumples up – that's exactly what I did.

‘I've just been resting mentally and physically before revving up for my next couple of tours – Firedance being the first one up.’

On her first time dancing with another woman, she says: ‘It was a new experience. It was challenging choreographically, but also what I was basing it on and the storylines behind it and also what was best for Jayde. At the end of the day we want to make our celebrities shine and we want to make them look their best and feel their best.

‘It definitely pushed my boundaries, but we had some really iconic numbers that I was really proud of, and sent a great message to everyone out there about being comfortable in their own skin.’

At this point Gorka joins us with apologies: ‘TV always takes longer than you think...’

Gorka was paired with the former Blue Peter and current Countryfile presenter Helen Skelton. They made it to the final but ultimately lost out to Hamza Yassin and Jowita Przystał – the third time Gorka has been pipped at the post.

The Spanish dancer says: ‘People say: “Aw, you should have won it”, and yeah, when you're in the final and you're so close, everybody wants to win. All the couples want to win it. Sometimes I read some comments like, “Gorka was so upset”, or “he was so angry that he didn't win it”. I wasn't angry, but I was upset because that means that I care.

‘I think that it would be more disrespectful to my partner and the show if after we hadn't won it I was then there laughing and enjoying myself, saying: “Whatever!” That would show I didn't care, but I do really care about the show and how my partner does.

‘I wanted her to finish on the best end possible, but at the end of the day, it's just a glitterball trophy you're going to put on a shelf in your toilet or in your living room,’ Karen laughs at this, ‘and you're going to give it a dust now and again.’

He is clearly fiercely proud of Helen and their achievement.

‘The more important thing was I got to see Helen growing as a dancer week by week. The Helen who came on week one compared to the Helen who left the show 12 weeks later was completely different.

‘To see her build her confidence and be happier again and everything that she went through during the show was so rewarding, and I feel so privileged that I had the chance to be by her side on that journey.’

The calibre of dancing in this year’s series was noticeably higher from the celebrities – even those without any previous training became amazing dancers.

‘100 per cent,’ agrees Karen, ‘and I think that's what the show is about – some of the celebrities join us not having any idea of how to utilise your body in any kind of way other than walking, which you do naturally on an everyday basis.

‘But you do kind of need those ones who have some dancing background to show the balance, and so there's a rollercoaster feel to the show.

‘I think that's the beauty of it, but everyone loves the show so much regardless of whether you've got a dance background or not, they'll fall in love with your personality and how you come across.’

But be honest, you still really want that trophy, right?

‘Yeah, of course!’ says Gorka immediately.

‘Yeah,’ says Karena with a sigh – the closest she came was as runner-up in 2018 with Jamie Laing. ‘It's a lot of hard work. And I think this was the special thing about Helen and Gorka, they had such great teamwork and she was a very hard worker – when you get those combinations when you really want to win... Sometimes you get someone and they're not trying as hard or they don't want it as much, it's harder for us as the pros to want to push you and to want it as bad.

‘But if you get someone who is really putting their heart out there and really giving it all, it's like being a football coach – if you have players who want to win and want to work together as a team, the coach will be even better at coaching and strategising things. But if you get someone who just wants to have fun and see how far they'll go and blah, blah, blah, then okay, let's do that.’

Are you going to name names on that latter camp? Karen laughs and spins her chair away from the screen.

But Gorka adds: ‘There's nothing wrong with that either. It's a dance show and some people come for the experience – they don't come to be a professional dancer. Part of the experience is obviously learning to dance, but you want them to have a good time too. They're only going to be doing this for a while, so it's not bad if they come to the show and see how many weeks they can enjoy it for.

‘A lot of people always ask, which kind of celebrity would you like – one who can really dance, or one who can't? My answer is always the same, I want someone who wants to learn and will commit to the show and has trust in what you do. This is our job – this is what we do for all of our lives.

‘One of Helen's best qualities was that she trusted me 100 per cent, whatever I said, whether it's good or bad, she stood my side and went with it 100 per cent. That's like a team mate.’

The Firedance show was initially conceived before the pandemic and briefly made it out on the road for six performances in 2020 before Covid brought the tour to a grinding halt. They finally got a full tour out last year and this is now a revised version for 2023.

Ever the optimist, Karen says: ‘What was nice was that we knew we had a show that worked. We only did a handful of shows but we knew we had something special in our hands. Bringing it back last year was even better because we had this show that was already set and ready to go. The response was incredible, and we were really grateful that everybody loved it. It was completely different from any other show that was out there from any other professionals.

‘Bringing it back this year is even better still – now we know what works, what didn't, what we can change, what we can add or takeaway. It's nice to have that backbone that works and then we can add little ingredients to it. Firedance 2023 is going to be about the reignition and reinvention of that.’

The two dancers met when Gorka joined Strictly in 2016, and the pair have danced outside the TV show in other tours.

‘We had known each other for a while,’ says Gorka, ‘and when it came to do our show together, she approached me with this opportunity and I said: “100 per cent yes!” We get on so well together on the show, it was so easy for us to work together, and it is so easy to work together.

‘That's one of the beauties of the show – it's how good we are working together as a team.’

‘I like to say we're like the Latin Fred and Ginger,’ chips in Karen.

The Firedance tour finishes early April, and then it’s into a tour with Strictly Come Dancing – The Professionals, which swings by Portsmouth Guildhall on May 26.

Firedance is at Portsmouth Guildhall on March 28, doors 7pm. Tickets £22.50-£48.50. Go to portsmouthguildhall.org.uk.