Strictly siblings Kevin and Joanne Clifton share their dance journey ahead of new live show in Chesterfield

An Evening with Kevin and Joanne Clifton will visit Chesterfield’s Winding Wheel on November 11, 2021.

Both are excited to be performing in front of a live audience after their Burn The Floor show tour had to be cancelled due to the Covid-19 restrictions. Burn The Floor will be staged in 2021, but without Joanne who has commitments elsewhere.

With the new series of Strictly Come Dancing launching this weekend, we found out who the competitive siblings are looki ng forward to watching in the greatest dance show on television – and what fans can expect to see and hear in An Evening with Kevin and Joanne Clifton.

Are you excited about your tour and what are you looking forward to most about it?

Kevin: I'm just so excited to be back in a theatre with an audience. It's the energy created between performers and the audience that I get such a buzz out of. I did my first in-person audition since lockdown for another musical a few weeks ago and it really hit home how much I've missed performing with and for other people.

Joanne: So incredibly excited! I think just getting in front of an audience again, albeit socially distanced, just the thrill of it and with the bro!

Have you been rehearsing An Evening with Kevin & Joanne Clifton in secret for a while?

Kevin: We've wanted to do a show together for so long and often come up with ideas. Obviously the 2020 Burn The Floor tour was supposed to be that show but Covid-19 put a stop to that. So this is our chance to do it and we are constantly throwing ideas out there.

Joanne: We have a week’s rehearsal before we open in October. Our show for the big tour was ready, so I think we’ll do numbers from that etc.

What can the audience expect to see and hear in the 2020 show?

Kevin: This year me and my sister made an album of songs from Burn The Floor past and present so think of this like an album tour. It will be a more intimate show with us singing songs from the show, dancing, telling stories from our careers and taking questions from the audience.

Joanne: We have our dance partners too (we’ll be a bubble) so we’ll be doing dances separately and together.

Who will be your dance partners?

Kevin: We will of course dance together a bit but one of the premier dancers is Lauren Oakley.

Joanne: Mine is Giorgio Iori from Italy. He was going to be my partner for the 2020 Burn the Floor tour before it got postponed, so we had already spent time together rehearsing for that show.

Have you performed in Chesterfield before?

Kevin: I went to Sheffield last year with Burn the Floor, which I think is fairly close, but not Chesterfield, so it will be great to perform here.

Joanne: I’ve been touring for 3/4 years now with Thoroughly Modern Millie, Flashdance and Rocky Horror, so I’ve definitely been!

Are most of the towns on the tour places that you’ve performed at before?

Kevin: It's a bit of a mixture of places I went to before with Burn the Floor and new ones. So it will be nice to go back to some venues and also to perform at the new ones.

Joanne: After all these years touring, I think I’ve been lucky enough to do most theatres.

What other touring shows have you done together?

Kevin: We've never done any other touring shows together outside of Strictly Come Dancing and I can't guarantee we ever will again which is why this tour is so special.

Joanne: This will be the first time we’ve danced together in about 20 years.

Have the two of you competed in a series of Strictly at the same time?

Joanne: Oh yes! For three years, and the third year, 2016, I won and he was second .... love that!

Kevin: It was an amazing night for both of us.

What did you love about your time on Strictly? What do you miss about it?

Kevin: I love the whole team at Strictly. It's a lovely family. The best parts were seeing a celebrity partner do their absolute best and become proud of themselves and grow in confidence. I'm really looking forward to watching this year as a fan.

Joanne: I loved the working environment. We really were a family. I loved everybody on it and I miss having them around.

Who are you looking forward to seeing in this year’s Strictly and why?

Kevin: Me and Maisie Smith won the Children In Need Special last year and she was so good I had a feeling she would be asked on to the main show. I can't wait to watch her shine this year. I'm also delighted we are going to have a same sex partnership this year with Nicola Adams. I'm also keen to see the creativity that comes out of all the restrictions that will have to be in place. It's going to be a great series.

Joanne: I’m looking forward to seeing Jamie Laing. After he couldn’t do it last year I’m so pleased he can come back and give it a go.

Were you competitive siblings and if so, has that stayed with you throughout your adult life?

Kevin: As kids I was really competitive and Jo was passive. As adults Jo has become the competitive one and I'm now a lot more chilled.

Joanne: That’s why I loved it when I beat him on Strictly!

What are your earliest memories of dancing?

Kevin: Our first competition when we were really young. We were the only ones in our age group but we were too scared to dance on our own so they had to bring an older couple onto the floor. When they gave us a first placed trophy we thought we had beaten them!

Joanne: We have a video of our very first competition! 4 and 5 years old. We won! But we were the only ones in it. We were so proud of ourselves.

Where did you grow up and how old were you both when you got the dancing bug?

Kevin: We grew up in Grimsby. Our parents were world champion dancers so we began dancing in their dance academy before I can even remember.

Joanne: Kev started joining in the classes when he was five and I just copied him. I was four.

Do you live near each other nowadays?

Kevin: We live about 15 minutes away from each other.

Joanne: We both live in London!

Do either of you have partners and/ or children that you leave for weeks on end when you're touring?

Kevin: Yes but we're so used to it. It's the life of a performer. Luckily our partners have jobs that take them away a lot as well so we all get it. I'm so used to touring it's not really a problem.

Joanne: Kevin is with Stacey (Dooley) and my boyfriend is Aj Jenks. I’ll be away from him touring, but he’s the most supportive boyfriend ever and he’s in the same industry so he understands!

How did you feel when Burn The Floor had to be cancelled?

Kevin: We were mid rehearsals when lockdown started so we were all in great shape and raring to go. The show was shaping up to be incredible with a lot of new choreography and ideas so obviously I was gutted when we found out it would have to be delayed.

Joanne: I was so gutted. The show was ready! And it was the first time I got my passion for ballroom dancing back in an extremely long time.

How did you spend lockdown?

Kevin: I've been trying to keep creative by doing some writing courses and coming up with some new ideas. But also just taking time to rest and rejuvenate as I haven't stopped for the last few years and probably needed a break.

Joanne: Kev moved house. I’ve been doing a few things, working on the musical I’ve written, “Bloody Nora,” and I’ve been running motivational workshops with Katya Jones and Sasha Latoya over Zoom, which led to us writing a book (Beyond Lockdown Empire)!

Tickets to see An Evening With Kevin and Joanne Clifton cost £38. Go to www.chesterfieldtheatres.co.uk