\nDan Wootton<\/a><\/p>\n
Last updated at 8:14 AM on 9th December 2011<\/p>\n
For viewers of Strictly Come Dancing, it\u2019s easy to assume the celebrity contestants are the usual bunch of pampered stars who have every whim catered for before prancing on to the dancefloor to perform for just three minutes.<\/span><\/p>\n But for show favourite Harry Judd, the far-from-glamorous reality involves exhausting 12-hour days \u2014 seven days a week \u2014 of training (in the arms of a beautiful dancer \u2014 so it\u2019s not all bad!). \u2018Surely, a three-minute dance routine doesn\u2019t take more than 70 hours of preparation?\u2019 I ask the McFly drummer. <\/span><\/p>\n Harry summons his flame-haired professional partner Aliona Vilani, who is covered in bruises after being dropped onto hard wooden floors too many times to remember over the past eight weeks. \u2018You show him how it\u2019s done,\u2019 he winks at her. And, sure enough, within ten minutes of coaching, I\u2019m begging for mercy as a smug-looking Harry smiles: \u2018See, you have no idea what Strictly really involves.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n Dance fever: Dan Wootton dances with Aliona Vilani as Harry Judd watches on in the background<\/p>\n<\/div>\n But I\u2019m about to find out as the 25-year-old pop star, who has been credited with helping to rejuvenate the hit BBC1 celebrity dance competition, reveals his intense preparation \u2014 yes, all 72 hours\u2019 worth \u2014 in advance of tomorrow\u2019s highly anticipated semi-final. <\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s 11am on Tuesday in a freezing cold training room in a public gym, on a grim-looking south-west London industrial estate surrounded by council flats. There\u2019s no hint that Harry \u2014 a pin-up to millions of teenage girls \u2014 is part of the country\u2019s most glittering TV show, apart from two BBC cameras which stand ominously on tripods at each end of the room. <\/span><\/p>\n Two bored-looking producers will sit alongside them for the next six hours, secretly hoping Harry, who wears a red hooded jumper to keep him warm, will injure himself or get into a fight with Aliona so they have content for the video packages they\u2019re working on. <\/span><\/p>\n Playing up to the cameras: Two producers film Harry for six hours, secretly hoping he will injure himself or get into a fight with Aliona so they have content for the video packages they’re working on.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n When Harry and Aliona break for their usual dinner of fajitas at 6.30pm, the crew will depart. But the pair will continue perfecting their every move for four more hours in a smaller, windowless studio, in nearby Chiswick. <\/span><\/p>\n At 10.20pm, an exhausted Harry refuses to dance any more. He lies on the floor and tries to distract Aliona with \u2018mindless conversation\u2019. He\u2019s had enough. <\/span><\/p>\n This laborious process is repeated from Monday to Thursday. And, unlike the other contestants, Harry and Aliona have already practised for an extra four hours on Sunday to get a head start. <\/span><\/p>\n There\u2019s also filming of the BBC2 Strictly spin-off series, It Takes Two, and the comedic video packages which are shown on the Saturday shows. And Harry has twice-weekly weights sessions with a personal trainer to ensure his depressingly pert pecs stay toned.<\/span><\/p>\n \u2018I admit I am a bit of an obsessive,\u2019 Harry says, while downing a revolting-looking concoction, which is actually an orange, carrot and ginger smoothie. \u2018I\u2019m a perfectionist. People keep telling me to take a day off, but I refuse.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n No wonder. The pressure is firmly on Harry to win. Not only has he been the bookies\u2019 favourite for weeks, scoring plaudits from all four judges, but less than a week ago his bandmate Dougie Poynter won the rival ITV1 reality series I\u2019m A Celebrity .\u2009.\u2009. Get Me Out Of Here. <\/span><\/p>\n \u2018Before Dougie went into the jungle we joked: \u201cImagine if we both won.\u201d Now Dougie has and I\u2019m in the semis.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n Harry\u2019s life has essentially been put on hold for the past four months. <\/span><\/p>\n He tries to listen to new McFly songs on his headphones during training breaks, but his mind is on only one thing \u2014 Strictly. <\/span><\/p>\n Despite the show\u2019s winner-turned-judge Alesha Dixon recently claiming dancing so physically close to one\u2019s partner for so many hours makes one rather frisky, Harry remains devoted to his long-term girlfriend Izzy Johnston, 27, who experienced her own reality TV fame as a member of Escala, the electronic string quartet who got to the finals of Britain\u2019s Got Talent in 2008.<\/span><\/p>\n \u2018Maybe I\u2019m just different, but I see Strictly as a professional thing and would regardless of whether I was single or not,\u2019 he says. \u2018I\u2019m completely dedicated to one girl and I don\u2019t let myself think like that anyway.<\/span><\/p>\n \u2018Izzy will come to training and sit in the corner watching us sometimes, or will come and have dinner with us. And the most important thing is that I wake up with her every morning.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n That\u2019s not to say the inevitable intimacy that comes with spending more than 70 hours a week with a stunning, single professional dancer doesn\u2019t cause some obvious awkwardness, especially when Izzy has to watch their more intimate routines.<\/span><\/p>\n Poor Aliona looks more like a boxer than a ballroom dancer up close, as Harry points out various bruises and swollen body parts which cover her from head to toe. \u2018He quite literally has to climb all over me during training,\u2019 Aliona smiles. \u2018The bruises are painful and my rib cage is very sore.<\/span><\/p>\n \u2018It is hardcore physically. We have no break mats to cushion any falls we have. This week we had to drop a particularly difficult move, because it was too dangerous. There\u2019s a limit, even for us.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n The pair have only had one serious bust-up during the course of the competition. \u2018I nearly dropped her during a lift,\u2019 Harry recalls. \u2018I had dropped her quite a few times before then and she would laugh, but she wasn\u2019t happy this time as she knew I wasn\u2019t concentrating.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n But, he adds, they have \u2018argued the least\u2019 out of any of the couples: \u2018We bicker, but anyone would when you spend that much time together. <\/span><\/p>\n \u2018Aliona\u2019s seen me tired, grumpy and upset, but we make each other laugh. That\u2019s part of the experience.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n Favourite: Harry, pictured with dance partner Aliona, has become one of the most popular contestants on this year’s Strictly<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Gruelling: During training, each professional dancer works differently. Aliona takes things slowly, perfecting the routine bit by bit<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Harry\u2019s arch rival for the Strictly title, actress Chelsee Healey, practises in a next-door room most of the week, but he never checks out his competition.<\/span><\/p>\n \u2018We\u2019ll talk during a cigarette break, but that\u2019s about it,\u2019 he explains.<\/span><\/p>\n Astonishingly, considering the vigorous routines, smoking is one habit Harry hasn\u2019t given up. He and Chelsee often nip out to the BBC\u2019s courtyard for a quick puff to calm their nerves after the live show. \u2018It\u2019s quite a nice time, because the dance is over and we get to meet up with whoever the contestants have brought with them,\u2019 he says.<\/span><\/p>\n During training, each professional dancer works differently. Many will \u2018block out\u2019 the moves on the first day of training so the celebrity is aware of everything they have to learn during the week. But Aliona takes things much slower, perfecting the routine bit by bit.<\/span><\/p>\n It can be painful to watch, as they go through the routine step-by-step at a snail\u2019s pace. <\/span><\/p>\n Harry explains: \u2018If we\u2019re doing a samba, she\u2019ll teach me the basic steps on a Sunday but, sometimes, I won\u2019t do the final steps until Thursday. It\u2019s like perfecting your golf swing \u2014 you have to put in lots of time and effort.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n Baring all: Dan Wootton covers up as Harry Judd shows off his well-toned torso<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Harry is rarely disagreeable, but when Aliona suggests \u2018sexing up\u2019 the routine with facial expressions, she\u2019s given a flat No.<\/span><\/p>\n On Fridays and Saturdays, the dancers finally get to move out of their suffocating training venues and into the BBC\u2019s rundown White City studios.<\/span><\/p>\n At 10am Harry arrives in the \u2018Star Bar\u2019 area which houses the celebrities\u2019 dressing rooms, and is bombarded by camera crews and production staff from the moment he walks in.<\/span><\/p>\n On Friday, he spends a lot of time backstage getting fitted into his costume for the live show. The male dancers\u2019 shirts are actually all-in-ones with attached underwear made of lycra. That poses hazards when nature calls. \u2018It\u2019s very difficult, believe me,\u2019 Harry groans.<\/span><\/p>\n The professional dancers do not even have their own dressing rooms because of a lack of space. Instead, there are two communal rooms \u2014 one for the females, one for males \u2014 where they get ready. Harry prefers to hang out in the professional males\u2019 dressing room than his own \u2018because there\u2019s a good camaraderie\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n Perhaps the only perk (other than free stodgy food from the BBC canteen) is a spray-tanning booth, which all the celebrities and professionals visit.<\/span><\/p>\n Saturdays are the most difficult for Harry, who struggles with the long wait between the final rehearsal (where a dressed-down Bruce Forsyth warns the contestants: \u2018Make sure you laugh at my jokes\u2019) and the start of the live show.<\/span><\/p>\n \u2018I sit down and just feel sick and totally drained with anxiety,\u2019 he says.<\/span><\/p>\n Each celebrity can invite just two guests to the show, making it a tough choice between parents, partners and friends. Izzy always gets a ticket, and Harry will try to see her briefly before the show.<\/span><\/p>\n Contrary to popular belief, the Sunday night results show is filmed 90 minutes after the live show on a Saturday.<\/span><\/p>\n Harry struggles with being filmed after the result is announced, as he would like a moment to himself to celebrate. He says: \u2018The vultures \u2014 I mean the cameramen \u2014 flock onto the floor. Last week, I was trying to give Robbie Savage, who had just been voted off, a hug and they insisted I was interviewed. It was the last thing I felt like doing after all that! I just wanted to go and hug my family.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n Harry has given up drinking (he\u2019s had only half a bottle of Becks during the entire series), so doesn\u2019t go to the BBC bar with the other contestants to celebrate afterwards. <\/span><\/p>\n \u2018I don\u2019t enjoy drinking any more. I only ever used to drink to get drunk. I could drink if I wanted to, but I don\u2019t. I\u2019d rather get to bed, as I\u2019m so exhausted,\u2019 he says.<\/span><\/p>\n Harry\u2019s raunchy routines have been a hit with judges Craig Revel-Horwood and Bruno Tonioli, but he\u2019s not complaining about their, at times, flirtatious comments.<\/span><\/p>\n \u2018Sometimes it\u2019s embarrassing, but it\u2019s just a bit of fun. I\u2019d rather them say positive things than that I\u2019m ugly,\u2019 he says.<\/span><\/p>\n \u2018Bruno\u2019s worse than Craig for sure. Craig\u2019s very professional, actually. He\u2019s lovely off camera. I think he\u2019s very fair.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n Len has been known to apologise backstage for tougher comments. \u2018He will often say to me: \u201cDon\u2019t get downhearted when I criticise you, just take it on board,\u201d\u2009\u2019 Harry recalls.<\/span><\/p>\n According to Harry, co-presenter Tess Daly likes a \u2018gossip\u2019 backstage with the contestants while Bruce will regale them with stories of industry legends such as Tommy Cooper.<\/span><\/p>\n Harry plans to be in bed by midnight tonight, so he wakes up fresh for tomorrow\u2019s crucial semi-final, when two celebrities will be voted out, leaving only three to compete in the final.<\/span><\/p>\n \u2018I\u2019d be lying if I said I didn\u2019t really want to win it. I\u2019ll be disappointed if I don\u2019t. I can\u2019t concentrate on anything else. I\u2019m in the zone.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n After the final, I wouldn\u2019t blame Harry \u2014 or any of the other finalists \u2014 if they never wanted to dance again. For the true contenders, Strictly Come Dancing really is all-consuming.<\/span><\/p>\n![\"Dance](\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/9501article-2071884-0F14C6A200000578-424_634x652.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n![\"Playing](\"http:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2011\/12\/09\/article-2071884-0F14DFFE00000578-227_634x518.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Gruelling:](\"http:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2011\/12\/09\/article-2071884-0F14ECB100000578-35_634x509.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Baring](\"http:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2011\/12\/09\/article-2071884-0F14F33300000578-544_306x609.jpg\")
<\/p>\n