Strictly Come Dancing contestant Lewis Cope has firmly rejected persistent claims that he was a professional dancer before joining the hit BBC show. The actor, best known for his role in Emmerdale, made the candid admission during an exclusive interview just days before the Strictly Come Dancing Live Tour commences in Birmingham.
Addressing the Rumours Head-On
The 30-year-old star spoke openly about the speculation surrounding his dance experience prior to entering the Strictly ballroom for the 2025 series. With the live tour set to begin at Birmingham's Utilita Arena this weekend, Cope was determined to set the record straight about his background.
"I'm not a professional dancer. I didn't train as a dancer. I trained just solely as an actor," Cope told Birmingham Live. "People said that I was a musical theatre performer. I did one musical when I was 11 years old, which was 20 years ago. I did one tap dance. And I did some hip hop when I was in my teens. So I've never been a dancer."
Partner Support and Training Revelations
Cope's professional dance partner, Katya Jones, joined the conversation, offering both teasing remarks and heartfelt support. "He's a terrible leader," she joked initially, before revealing the immense effort behind their performances.
The actor passionately described the rigorous training required for his Strictly journey, emphasising that his dancing abilities were not innate but developed through relentless practice. "What you saw on the screen wasn't natural. It wasn't that I just had it, and I could just do it like that. We worked so hard for days and days and days to put a routine together," Cope explained.
He added: "It was actually a lot of harder work than people thought for me."
The Reality Behind the Glamour
Jones provided compelling insight into their training sessions, describing moments of exhaustion and determination that never made it to television screens. "What you saw of those fantastic dances is the product of hard work," she revealed. "There's been weeks where I had to like peel him off the floor, because he was like 'I can't do this.'"
Cope confirmed the intensity of their preparation, recalling: "We trained so much, I fell asleep on the dance floor because we would not give up. We trained super hard."
Clarifying the Experience Question
While firmly denying professional dancer status, Jones clarified that they had never concealed Cope's limited previous experience. "We never hid the fact [Lewis] had some sort of experience," she stated, while emphasising that nothing compares to the specific demands of ballroom dancing and partner skills required for Strictly Come Dancing.
The Strictly Come Dancing Live Tour begins at Birmingham's Utilita Arena from January 23-25, where Cope and Jones will join fellow celebrities and professional dancers in a show judged entirely by audience response.
