It’s hard to believe that this is our LAST week of Strictly Come Dancing. What a trip!! Some people do drugs. I do this.
Strictly has been the most unique and incredible experience of my life. The highs and lows, going from elation to desperation and back again, have made it an emotional rollercoaster ride of exponential proportions - somewhat of a melodramatic soapie. But, looking back, I have no regrets.
I don’t think I ever actually had any idea what I was getting myself into when I signed up to do the show… yes, I knew it would be physically and mentally taxing, but the experience is one that I could never have imagined.
The dance partner that is at first a complete stranger becomes your best friend. When you spend so much time with someone, you get to know them so well - their personality, their physiology, their smells, their moods, their idiosyncrasies, what makes them laugh and what makes them tick, their philosophy on life, their hopes and dreams - pretty much everything there is to know about them.
The single thing that makes me the happiest about the whole experience is that they paired me up with a guy called Grant Esterhuizen, who feels like a brother-from-another-mother to me now. I can’t even begin to explain how similar we are in every single way, it’s almost scary.
He’s been the most caring, loyal, and dedicated dance partner I could have asked for, and I’ve looked forward to spending every day with him, learning his craft and laughing at his crazy sense of humour.
We’ve had our bad days, of course, where we’re moody and tired and we fight with each other, but those total to about 3 days out of 3months. It’s literally like a relationship: you go from meeting each other, to spending lots of time with and getting to know each other, to the honeymoon period of loving each other, to marriage, fighting and screaming at each other, and on Thursday I guess we’ll be getting divorced!
Grant has hardly seen his (real) wife and baby these last 3 months because he’s sacrificed so much of his time to our goal of winning Strictly. For that, and for turning an uncoordinated, clumsy tomboy into a graceful dancer, I am eternally grateful to him. If we don’t win on Thursday, I might have lost a competition but I will have gained a friend.
Looking back over these past 17 weeks, I can’t help but smile at the crazy experience it’s been. I’ve stood backstage literally shaking with nerves before dancing. I’ve cried like a baby with all the drama and emotion of having to do a dance-off. I’ve collapsed with physical, mental and emotional exhaustion during some of our rehearsals. I’ve lived on pain-killers, arnica oil and transact pads to keep my body going through its injuries, and I ended my showjumping season early this year.
I eat like a HORSE these days, and I have a pharmacy of pills and a cocktail of energy drinks that I’ve lived on for 3 months.
Things I’ll miss after Strictly? My weeks will go back to starting on Mondays - I’m so used to them running from Thursday to Thursday now. I’m going to miss the performances so much… the tension and excitement backstage, the butterflies in your stomach just before dancing, the adrenaline of shaking your ass for the whole country to see and the elation of having killed a routine and being awarded high scores!
I’ll miss both Ian and Sandy; they are such awesome people, full of smiles, jokes and encouragement backstage. And even the judges - they’re all characters in their own right. I’ll miss the camera teams at our rehearsals, they brought a lot of laughs too, although I guess it’s going to be weird not having someone film my every move and writing furiously on their log-sheet when something good, bad or ugly happens!
I’ll definitely miss all the drama and emotion, the rampant energy, the naked Thursdays, the camaraderie and the competitiveness between us, and the ecstatic highs and crazy times that are “Strictly Come Dancing.” I’m proud that I’ve danced my heart out and given it my all.
What won’t I miss? Let me tell you, the one thing I will NOT miss is these ridiculous archaic torture devices they call ballroom shoes!!! I’m not sure yet exactly what I’m going to do with them after next week, but they HONE so badly I might have to store them in the garage. I would donate them to a dance school, but honestly, I don’t think they’d accept them.
Oh and another thing I won’t miss is the FREEZING change-rooms upstairs. They have to blast the whole building with sub-zero aircon because of the heat emitted from the lights and equipment, so while we’re all getting naked on Thursdays as we change from one costume to the next, you can actually see stalactites forming on peoples’ nipples, it’s THAT cold.
Thanks!!I’m not sure if we’ll get to write another blog after this week, so I’ll go ahead and say my thanks now:
Huge thanks to Kee-Leen, Pam, and everyone at Rapid Blue for giving me this opportunity - you’ve all been such a pleasure to work with!
Our designer Kurt - you’re a genius. Love love LOVE all the exquisite outfits you made for me, and I’m thankful that you may have altered my fashion sense for the better - hey, you even did the impossible and got me to wear PINK! :)
To Ian, Sandy and the judges - you’re a funny lot, thanks for the laughs!
JB Arthur and the band - thanks for making the music come alive!
Thanks so much to Lynne and Shon and Di and the make-up artists and hairstylists and the crew and catering and the Village Peeps in the OB Van outside, and EVERYONE who has worked so tirelessly behind the scenes every week!
To my fellow competitors and professional dancers, it’s been such a privilege meeting and working with you guys, and I’m looking forward to having you all back on Thursday night for a big fat party!
To Virgin Active, thanks for the use of your space, for the 350 hours in total that Grant and I trained!
To Grant, Anthea and their family, and Glen and Tebogo, and of course to my family, friends, fellow show jumpers/ horse riders, and EVERYONE who has supported us, be it through well-wishes or words of encouragement or votes, THANK YOU A MILLION times over, I love you guys!!!
OK I gotta stop now cause this has turned into an Oscar-acceptance speech and I think I might shed a tear…
Speaking of which, Grant and I bawled like babies when we heard we were SAFE in the elimination round on Thursday. We were feeling really uneasy, so when our names were called out we threw our arms around each other and sobbed into each others’ necks for what felt like an eternity. THANK YOU for your votes that pulled us through!!
SO may the best (wo)man WIN on Thursday! It’s your last chance to help us win that trophy guys, so for the last time ever, I’ll ask you:
PLEASE VOTE FOR COUPLE NUMBER 3! SMS ‘3’ to 34766!!
PEACE OUT BLOGGERS! :)
God Bless.
Love, Tess