Entertainment

David Walliams reveals reason he will never appear on Strictly

A recent role helped the comedian discover he is a ‘hopeless’ dancer.
A recent role helped the comedian discover he is a ‘hopeless’ dancer. A recent role helped the comedian discover he is a ‘hopeless’ dancer.

David Walliams has ruled himself out of ever appearing Strictly Come Dancing, saying he is “one of the world’s worst dancers”.

The Little Britain star, 48, who has previously claimed he wanted to be part of the show’s first same-sex couple, said he recently discovered he was “so hopeless” on the dance floor.

The comic struggled to learn a routine to one of rapper MC Hammer’s songs for his forthcoming Sky One and Now TV comedy Cinderella: After Ever After, which also stars Sian Gibson.

Cinderella: After Ever After screening – London
Cinderella: After Ever After screening – London Sian Gibson and David Walliams at a screening for Cinderella: After Ever After (Ian West/PA)

He said: “I realised I am one of the world’s worst dancers.

“I had a choreographer who helped me and she said: ‘There are only two people who are worse dancers than you. That’s Pierce Brosnan and Colin Firth.’

“That’s not bad company actually.

“People always say: ‘When are you going to do Strictly?’

“I found out the answer is never. I am so hopeless at dancing. It took me so long to even get to that, which is pretty pathetic.”

Strictly Come Dancing 2019
Strictly Come Dancing 2019 David Wallliams previously said he wanted to be part of Strictly’s first same-sex pairing (Kieron McCarron/BBC/PA)

Walliams hoped the dance would riff on the recent trend of flash mobs, a kind of spontaneous group dance, at weddings.

He added: “It was just supposed to be a spoof on… you know when you go to wedding and people do that little routine. It was meant to be a spoof on that.

“But my goodness me. We wrote it in and you go: ‘Oh they dance to MC Hammer.’

“It’s very easy to write that as a stage direction…

“(But) weeks and months of dance lessons and still no idea how to do it.

“And in those costumes as well… It was quite hot. We were there in June. It was hot.”

The hour-long special will explore what happened to the princess following the events of the famous folk tale, memorably retold by Disney.

Cinderella: After Ever After, which also stars Sir Tom Courtenay and Celia Imrie, will air over the Christmas period.