He dreamed a dream of lifting the Glitterball Trophy, and let’s hope he’s not left Miserable...
Will Mellor is drawing on musical Les Miserables to propel him to Strictly Come Dancing victory.
The actor sees himself like “underdog” Jean Valjean on the BBC1 show, as the competition heats up.
The Coronation Street star says: “I love the underdog story, rags to riches, coming from the depths of despair and ending up being mayor. And the music’s amazing.”
He and Nancy Xu will be dancing a foxtrot to Sun and Moon from Miss Saigon this weekend, and Will admits he could end up in floods of tears.
“I’m an emotional person and music moves me and I get immersed,” he says. “When I went to see Miss Saigon I was crying at the interval, I couldn’t go and get my ice cream.”
Will really does plan to keep dancing when the series ends, adding he would like to star on stage next.
“My dream role would be Valjean but I don’t know if I’m good enough as you have to do the full show,” he says. “Then again, The Greatest Showman, to be the lead would be unbelievable. I’d love to play the Phantom as well. I’ll do it all!
“Phantom of the Opera was the first show I went to see, that’s what made me fall in love with musicals.”
He even starred in a Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps musical special, though given he neglected to mention it, perhaps that wasn’t quite so inspiring for him.
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ABBA
If only all divorces could be equated to a handshake.
Abba’s Bjorn Ulvaeus split from bandmate Agnetha Faltskog in 1971, but the group continued to perform together – along with fellow divorcees Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Benny Andersson.
Bjorn says: “Ours was a divorce when both decided at the same time that we had grown apart.
“It was almost like a handshake. ‘Maybe we should get divorced. Maybe this isn’t working. Yeah, you’re right. We should’.
“And then we split up. There was no acrimony.” The two couples were, helpfully, very similar.
Bjorn tells the Table Manners podcast: “We decided that we have such a wonderful vehicle to express ourselves: Abba, that it would be such a shame to stop that.”
If the music hadn’t worked out they could have made a fortune becoming divorce counsellors.
Victoria Beckham
The Spice Girls’ platform trainers were an iconic part of ’90s fashion.
But Posh Spice Victoria Beckham, now a fashion designer, wants to disassociate herself from them.
“I am not taking responsibility for those big Spice Girls shoes,” she tells Vogue. “And I’d say to the girls, ‘I did used to take up the budget’.
“It was fantastic. Because their shoes were from that shop Buffalo, on Carnaby Street. And they just used to get them all for free.”
So Posh got to splash out on all the posh stuff. Which does kind of make her responsible for the others wearing freebies...
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