When Stacey interviewed Kevin: 5 Things We Learnt

Award-winning documentary maker and podcaster Stacey Dooley is back on BBC Sounds, with another series of her podcast, Fresh Starts!

In the series, she meets people from all walks of life who are starting out on a new path.

But the first episode is a bit closer to home, featuring none other than her boyfriend, Kevin Clifton! Stacey and Kevin met on (and won!) Strictly Come Dancing in 2018.

Here's five things we learned about the couple from the episode...

Listen to the podcast, 'Kevin Clifton: Strictly Come Tapping' here!

It had always been Kevin's dream to pursue a career in musical theatre.

After achieving everything he could on Strictly Come Dancing, ‘King Kev’ decided to leave the show and join the cast of the Strictly Ballroom musical, but then the pandemic hit.

As the country ground to a halt, Kevin's work was postponed until 2022 - which was 'scary'.

"It was a real difficult moment. I was going, right, as I sit here, right now, I've got nothing in the diary until September 2022," Kevin told the podcast.

Kevin admitted there were times when he wondered whether he had done the right thing leaving Strictly, but Stacey kept him on track.

"You [Stacey] were very good about saying, ‘I think you should stick to your guns'" said the 39-year-old.

"It's not like your career has stopped. Everyone's career stopped in that world and it will start again. When it starts again, you have to be in the position to go for it rather than heading back.'"

Not one to rest on his laurels, Kevin used the free time in lockdown to his advantage and embarked on his own 'fresh start' by learning to tap-dance by watching YouTube videos for a 'Singin' in the Rain' audition.

However, Kevin initially needed some encouragement to give it a go...

"He wasn't even going to go for it because [the audition requirements] said ‘must be outstanding tapper’" Stacey said.

"Kev was like, ‘I haven't tapped before. I’m a beginner tapper’. And I said, 'Kev, I really, really feel like this role is so perfect for you! Like, just learn to tap’, and I really pushed you to go for the audition didn't I?"

"Well, you were saying, ‘I think you'll kick yourself if you don't at least have a go, because I think this role is perfect for you and it's something that you'd really enjoy.’"

Stacey's hunch was right, and Kevin's hard work paid off... he got the role!

Unable to travel during lockdown, Kevin had to audition via a home-filmed 'self-tape', which proved to be an ordeal...

"Filming a self-tape is SUCH a saga," Stacey laughed. "We always end up having an argument!"

Kevin wasn't having any of it: “Filming a self-tape with you is a saga as you always want to act in the self-tapes!”

He revealed instead of reading the cue line for Kevin in her natural voice, Stacey would put on a dodgy American accent.

"I was like, 'Don’t do it like that, as they’re going to laugh at the self-tape and I’m never going to get the job!'" Kevin said.

Trust us, this is one you have to listen to... 13 minutes in!

Before becoming a household name on Strictly, Kevin revealed he had seriously considered hanging up his dancing shoes.

“Around 2007 I was in my mid-twenties and felt like I wasn't enjoying dancing anymore. I'd been a ballroom dance competitor my whole life, and I got to a point where I just wanted to give up dancing."

But all was not lost. A performance of Edward Scissorhands at Sadler's Wells dance theatre inspired him to 'keeeeep dancing'!

"The show blew me away and I was crying at the end of it because I had this realisation it's not that I don't want to dance or perform, it's that I don't want to do competitions.

"I want to be part of a company, part of the cast and I want to tell stories and entertain. From that point, I decided theatre was going to be my path."

Kevin's story came full circle as 'Singin' in the Rain' took place on the very same stage he was inspired by all those years ago.

Kevin isn't one to shy away from attention, it seems...

"If I think for one second the audience will explode into applause, I'm going after it", Kevin laughed.

According to Stacey, his enthusiasm was noted in the audition feedback: "The notes [said], you can flirt with the audience, you don't have to sleep with them!"

"Our friend calls Kev 'Tinkerbell' because he says he can't live unless he's being clapped!"