Update On DWTS Strictly Come Dancing’s Gleb Savchenko And Tristan MacManus
I’m getting so excited to watch “Strictly Come Dancing” and the premiere is coming up quickly on this coming Friday and Saturday (yes, get those streams ready, Guys!). For some cool interviews with Dancing With The Stars pros Gleb Savchenko and Tristan MacManus, see The Mirror and The Sunday Express. They’ve posted some amazing photos at each link too. And as you can see below, I can’t get enough of the country photos of Gleb and his partner Anita Rani! Beautiful! More coming later this week with a new blog by Nathan! Special thanks to @jane9668 and @clrhmly for the help with this post. See their twitter accounts for even more extras.
Tristan at The Mirror;
He said: “Things have been great. Jamelia is super. I obviously didn’t know her before the show but she’s really easy to get on with. I like her a lot. We’ve been having fun.
and…
“The rehearsals have been quite light and we’re getting a lot of work done. We generally get on with each other, which always makes it easier. We don’t have to fake anything then.”
He pointed out: “Me and my wife are very, very comfortable. There’s been a big deal made out of it but I haven’t been around when any of this stuff has happened.
“I think once you’re very comfortable and happy in your own life and with your own partner that’s enough.
“My wife and I have a very strong marriage. I very much separate myself from the show when I’m not doing it.
Gleb at The Sunday Express:
At the age of 19, he met another beautiful girl called Elena Samodanova in a dance studio who later became his wife. She is a judge on the Russian version of Strictly on which her husband has also appeared.They have danced together for nine years, becoming champions in Australia, and won the Rising Stars competition in the UK. The couple are currently ranked 10th in the world.
“My wife is very supportive and intelligent, and helps me a lot in terms of the show.” Until recently the couple were based in Hong Kong so they could fly to competitions all over the world. For now London will be their home. There is also another little dancer in the family, their daughter Olivia, four.
“Olivia loves dancing. She wears Elena’s high heels and pretends she is Britney Spears,” says Gleb, who also lived in LA for two years. A year ago he danced with Jennifer Lopez in a L’Oréal ad.
And in 2013 he appeared on the US version of Strictly, Dancing With The Stars. He was paired with British celebrity Lisa Vanderpump from The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills, who said he was so gorgeous she could barely look at him. And judging by similar comments made by his current Strictly partner Anita Rani, she has the same problem.
He’s more than happy to be paired with the Countryfile presenter and describes her as intelligent, kind and funny. “We clicked from the first time we met. I have already seen she is a hard worker. She is fierce and willing to try things. I care about how I can take my celebrity partner to the top and make sure she stays happy during her journey.”
I’m super excited to see Tristan and Jamelia on Strictly. They seem very well matched and there is a lot of potential there. Even better, they appear to be very happy to be dancing together. Their Radio Times interview told me a lot. I can’t wait to see them dance.
Me too. It’s going to be fun!
I think both of these couples are going to kill it. I wonder if the press lift Anita and Gleb are doing is from one of their routines or just something they thought would make a good photo. Either way, it’s pretty well done, their lifts in general should be good.
I am so happy both Gleb and Tristan got good partners and are anxious for the season to start. It will fun to watch both of them, Gleb is a more aggressive choreographer and Tristan is more conservative. But who knows, with a good partner he may really show us a different side. Good luck to both of them.
Add me to the list of those who are eagerly awwaiting the start of Strictly 2015. I’m delighted Gleb and Tristan got partners who at least, on paper, have the potential to be good. Of course you never know what you’ve got until they’ve had a chance to rehearse and dance.
The instagrams from Gleb and Anita are gorgeous. Agree with Mr A that the press lift they’re doing is quite nice. I think it shows Anita is both fearless and relatively fit (the girl needs some core strength to pull that off).
As for Tristan and Jamelia, I’m a bit concerned about how Jamelia will handle the stress of competition, and how the GBP will react to her since she’s already got a bit of a negative rep with them. Hope Tristan works his magic to bring out her good qualities so the public votes for them.
Gleb definitely goes for more “modern” choreography. Tristan is a traditionalist. I like both styles. Hopefully, we’ll get to enjoy them both for many weeks!
I think I can have a pretty solid guess at what most people’s first dances are now. I don’t have the rehearsal footage in front of me now, but when I get it I’ll let you know.
OK, I’ve had a good look at as much rehearsal footage as I can get, and the first week dances appear to be (with some commentary):
Antony and Oti: Jive (I’m a little in love with Oti already I fear. She’s fun, sassy and adorable. If she turns out to be a good teacher, which looks likely, she could be my new favourite pro)
Kellie and Kevin- Tango (Can we stop with every EastEnders starting with Tango already? Kevin hasn’t given her easy choreography, which is nice)
Jay and Aliona- Cha-Cha (That’s all I have, except the feeling they both need a hair intervention. She shouldn’t be that blonde and manbuns are evil!)
Anita and Gleb- Cha-Cha?? (Maybe I was distracted by how much I love Anita, but they seemed to be doing some Waltz/Foxtrot, some Cha-Cha, even some Charleston. I think I got her wrong calling her a Ballroom girl, her Latin actually looks excellent)
Daniel and Kristina- Waltz (He’s trying hard, but it looks like a high standard this season. He may fall short. Kinda charming though.)
Carole and Pasha- Cha-Cha (I want to like her, Scots tend to root for other Scots in these shows and I like Pasha, but she is very irritating, and I’m prepared to join the consensus that she’s the “dud” this year)
Katie and Anton-Jive (This is only the second time Anton has ever started with a Latin dance, after Jerry Hall in Season 10. Katie can’t have been happy about the situation, but it’s actually looking good. I was pleasantly surprised.)
Peter and Janette- Cha-Cha? (similar to Anita, I saw a few styles happening but I believe it’s Cha-Cha. He might be more likeable in the Strictly bubble than I normally find him)
Jamelia and Tristan- Waltz (Another person I find insufferable in most cases, but I enjoyed her rehearsal footage, and she seems to really enjoy learning to dance and love Tristan, as she should)
Jeremy and Karen- Cha-Cha (Easily one of the weakest pieces of rehearsal footage I saw, but to be fair one of the earliest too. He might have got a lot better since I saw him. He’d pretty much have to.)
Georgia and Giovanni- Jive (If she can avoid getting in her own head, this girl could be a major contender. That’s all I’ll say for now.)
Ainsley and Natalie- Tango? (Another guess, I saw very little actual dancing, more Natalie drilling him, but I think what I saw was Tango openwork. There is no way Kellie is the only one doing Tango in Week 1 anyway. That would be weird. ETA: Ainsley has confirmed it to be a Tango on TalkSport last Friday)
Kirsty and Brendan- Waltz (Cute. Needs polishing, but cute all the same.)
Weirdly, Helen and Aljaz, Iwan and Ola’s rehearsal footage is nowhere to be found. Also, Brendan confirmed that he and Kirsty have Waltz on Twitter and Carole and Pasha are confirmed as Cha-Cha in TV Times.
Of the 13 couples I’ve seen, there look to be 3 Waltzes (Kirsty, Daniel and Jamelia), 3 Jives (Georgia, Antony and Katie), 2 Tangos (Ainsley and Kellie) and 5 Cha-Chas (Jeremy, Jay, Peter, Anita and Carole.) Looks like a fairly typical week 1 spread. If I’m wrong about any, maybe Anita and Peter, but I think both have Cha-Cha. I would guess at least one of Iwan and Helen has Tango, and neither Cha-Cha, but equally both could have Cha-Cha. My money would be on Iwan having Tango, Helen having Waltz but I’ve been very wrong many times before.
Great preview, Mr A. Thanks! I loved it! I can’t wait for Friday and Saturday!
No problem. It was fun, looks good. I can’t wait either. Always my winter obsession, and this cast I thought was weak looks like there’ll be some really nice surprises in it.
I got the last 2 pieces of rehearsal footage. Looks like I was right. Iwan and Ola have Tango and Helen and Aljaz have Waltz. Helen looks pretty great. Iwan seems to be enjoying himself but shows no performance skills, although it was early footage. Can’t wait for tomorrow night!
Me too, Mr A. And Nathan wrote a new blog. Check it out: https://www.puredwts.com/2015/09/24/strictly-come-dancing-the-best-and-the-worst-dances-for-week-one-guest-blog-by-nathan/
Well that answers those questions