Arlene Phillips

Published Friday 5 October 2007 at 11:00 by Matthew Hemley

The fifth series of Strictly Come Dancing kicks off this weekend, with contestant including TV stars Letitia Dean and Brian Capron. Matthew Hemley talks to judges Arlene Phillips and Len Goodman as they prepare to vet the next batch of dancers.

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You know you’ve mastered the art of a good put-down when even Simon Cowell is shocked by your acid tongue.

So when Arlene Phillips heard television’s Mr Nasty had dubbed her the “Queen of Mean”, she must have realised her place in the hall of fame for TV’s cruellest judges was well and truly secured.

Not that Phillips goes out of her way to make controversial comments. For her, it’s simply down to her need for perfection. And if someone’s not up to scratch, she’s not afraid to let them know.

“It’s just the way I am,” she confesses. “I am passionate about what I do and it has to be done right. Whether it is choreographing 2,000 dancers at the Commonwealth Games or working on a routine with just ten people, I like things done properly.”

Phillips originally found fame with the dance troupe Hot Gossip, formed in the seventies. She went on to choreograph a number of West End shows before celebrity came knocking on her door once more when she was asked to become a judge on BBC1’s Strictly Come Dancing, which starts a fifth series this weekend.

The show sees Phillips working alongside Len Goodman, Craig Revel Horwood and Bruno Tonioli to pass judgement on a group of celebrities, who perform dance routines week after week in the hope they will be crowned winner of the reality show.

This time round, contestants include footballer John Barnes and actress Kelly Brook. It is this eclectic mix of celebrities that Phillips claims gives the programme its appeal.

She also feels that the show follows a format the like of which has not been seen on television for some years.

“I think it has mass appeal because we have not had a Saturday night show like this for a long time,” she says. “You have the orchestra playing live, the ballroom, the beautiful clothes - but then you have the most phenomenal ballroom dancers, whose expertise is extraordinary, and who people love to watch. When they say you can watch this show from ages six to 96, they are not kidding.”

The show has been a massive success and has made Phillips a household name. However, she admits she initially had doubts over taking part in the series.

“There was more publicity and more press around Hot Gossip than I can imagine anyone having, both for me and the group,” she says. “So when it all started second time round, I was very cautious. I thought, I have been here before and I want to take a back seat as much as I can as far as this so-called celebrity circus is concerned. My television appearances are almost my hobby - something you can do on a Saturday afternoon. I am serious about it, but I have never lost sight of what I actually do, which is choreography and direction.”

This role as a choreographer and director has seen her working on a number of hit West End productions, including Starlight Express and The Sound of Music, which involved working with How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? winner Connie Fisher.

Most recently she has worked with Danny Bayne and Susan McFadden, the winners of ITV’s Grease is the Word, on the new West End production of Grease.

Where some choreographers might have reservations about working with talent selected from reality shows for professional West End productions, Phillips is surprisingly relaxed about it.

She claims Fisher was a “delight to work with” and has nothing but praise for Bayne and McFadden, although she admits she was worried about what they would be like to work with in terms of their abilities.

“Danny and Susan were far, far better than I thought they would be,” she says. “In fact, what we have in Danny is the best dancer we have ever had in that role. The role of Danny has always been played by an actor who can sing, but who I would teach to dance. So it’s a joy to watch Danny really win the show’s dance competition without me having to make him look good and invent stuff to make him look like the best dancer on the floor. I was rooting for them both when the programme was on. Susan looks like a Sandy and she has lovely, lovely voice.”

The show uses the choreography Phillips invented for the 1993 stage version, starring Craig McLachlan and Debbie Gibson, though she admits she would have liked to update it.

“I was so absolutely desperate to change it,” she reveals. “I would have loved to do something different, but everybody felt, if it is not broken, don’t mess with it. It has been in either the West End or on tour non-stop for the last 14 years and audiences love it. When I watch it now, I have to agree with the producers, who felt it still worked. But I just love doing everything new and different each time. I am a choreographer, I want to get up and dance.”

Phillips is currently working on a brand new musical, but she refuses to say too much about it, except to say it is “very naughty and very sexy”.

On top of that, she is waiting to hear whether the BBC are going to commission a second run of DanceX, the reality show which saw her go head to head with Tonioli to create a new UK dance troupe along the lines of Hot Gossip. The public eventually voted for Tonioli’s group, a decision which Phillips said left her devastated.

“I was absolutely mortified,” she says. “When my group did not win I was devastated - it shocked me. The public did not vote for them, but they were a group everyone loved. We may well be on to a winner yet - just look at other reality losers like Liberty X and Girls Aloud. At the moment they are just getting their lives sorted and I will give them all the help I can.”

The show is now being made in America, though Phillips is adamant she will not be appearing as a judge in the US.

“I am too busy,” she says. “I am working all the time and I don’t want to be, nor do I have the desire to be a full-time television personality.”

* Grease is currently playing at the Piccadilly Theatre and is booking until June 14, 2008. Box office 0844 412 6666