Itās Friday so that can only mean one thing, our weeklyĀ Strictly Come DancingĀ Team RiRo update is here courtesy of the lovely Robin Windsor.
Last week saw Robin and his partner Lisa Riley finish joint third after impressing the judges with their energetic and entertaining Jive. This week theyāve got the Charleston to tackle inĀ StrictlyāsĀ Halloween week.
We caught up with Robin to talk about how heās feeling after three weeks, talk about this weekendās show and discuss his ability to dance in ladies shoes.
Last weekend was another good weekend for Team RiRo. How do you feel about it?
Team RiRo killed it again last week! I was really, really happy as it was such a fast, complicated routine. Lisa did a really, really good job and again I was proud of her.
You were joint third in the leaderboard at the end of last weekās show. How does that feel?
Itās so exciting for me. Iāve never been so high on the leaderboard so often. Itās new territory for me so Iām going to work really hard and make sure we stay up there.
It seems that Denise Van Outen is the one to beat at the momentā¦
Denise topped the board and quite rightly so; she was absolutely fantastic but Iāve also got to say ā and Iāve said this to her ā that my favourite dance last week was Daniās. I thought that was absolutely brilliant.Ā Over The RainbowĀ is the number that me and Kristina danced to (on theĀ Dance To The Music Tour) and itās really difficult to dance to because it slows down and itās hard to get the timing. She did it so perfectly and I send her all my praise for that.
Howās Lisaās confidence after three successful weeks?
Lisaās confidence is still the same. Sheās not over-confident. Sheās very nervous would you believe, every week before we go on and Bruce is saying āitās Lisa and Robin nextā sheās really, really nervous and Iām having to hold her hand to stop her from shaking. As we come down onto the dance floor each week I say things to her that are private jokes between the two of us to keep her laughing and giggling until we get to do the dance. It takes her mind off that nervous feeling.
She hides it really well because when you see her dancing she looks like she knows exactly what sheās doing and she just goes for itā¦
She absolutely loves ballroom dancing and as soon as the music comes on sheās like me ā she feels the dance straight away and loves every second. You can see that at home, in the studioā¦from anywhere. When she puts her dancing shoes on and music goes sheās a monster (laughs).
When we spoke last week you mentioned sheād been suffering from sore feet and youād let her wear flat shoes. How are her feet this week?
Her feet are getting better. They were very sore but if anyone watchedĀ It Takes TwoĀ on Wednesday night they saw that in order to feel her pain I donned a pair of ladiesā Latin shoes to dance the routine in for the afternoon. And I did it perfectly (laughs). She said āI wonāt complain anymore, if you can do it anyone can do it!ā
This explains the flurry of tweets from your fans calling you Roberta Windsorā¦
Yeah. I wore the Latin shoes for the afternoon and I think I pulled them off well actually (laughs).
Were you practicing in your heels before rehearsals Robin? Come on you can tell usā¦
Iāve got a selection at home you know, for when I get home on a Saturday night (laughs).
Youāre dancing the Charleston this week. What can we expect?
This week we do have the Charleston and of course itās Halloween week so itās another theme week where we can get into character and have a lot of fun with it. I didnāt think there was any possibility that we could get faster than our Cha Cha and we got faster with our Jive. I said there was no way we could get any faster than the Jive but weāve somehow managed to do it. This routine is quicker than quick.
Can we expect full Halloween costumes?
We will be dressing up this week. Everyone will be dressing up of course because itās that time of year. Itās always one of the audience favourites Halloween week because itās great to see everyone get into character.
Last week we talked about whether having a theme and props added to or hindered a routine. We imagine that Halloween brings a bit of fun to it?
Having a costume and dressing up and getting in the role of the dance youāre going to do makes life much easier to act it. Lisaās a fantastic actress so she doesnāt really need that help so when sheās got the outfit on sheāll give it 150%.
Howās Lisa getting on in rehearsals this week?
Both of us this week are absolutely exhausted. This dance is really, really full-on. Weāve got a little trick up our sleeves which will be revealed on Saturday night in the dance and itās something Iāve never done before. Iām actually petrified and it is Halloween so it gives me something to be scared about.
Are you going to make it out of the weekend alive?
We probably should have some medics on standby incase this goes wrong (laughs).
It sounds really intriguingā¦
Itās something Iāve never done and as I say Iām petrified.
Youāre three weeks in now and youāre doing very well. You must be getting more confident about your chances of reaching the final now surely?
The mail goal for myself and Lisa is to get to Wembley for theĀ Children In NeedĀ show. I think thatās most peopleās goal. Thereās only 4 weeks left of the competition after that so then we have to take it week-by-week and hope that we do really good dances and the audience love them.
This year has got to be the year that you break the nine week curse. Youāve left the show at week nine for the last two years.
Yeah both years Iāve finished at week nine so I want to get at least a week further.
Weāre sure youāll do it this year!
Fingers crossed.
āStrictly Come Dancingā continues Saturday night at 6.30pm on BBC One. You can get the latest updates from Team RiRo by followingĀ @RobinWindsorĀ andĀ @RealLisaRileyĀ on Twitter.