Strictly Come Dancing's Ian Waite and Vincent Simone are The Ballroom Boys at the Kings Theatre, Southsea BIG INTERVIEW

But it took a suggestion from Ian Waite’s dad to nudge him towards teaming up with fellow former Strictly Come Dancing professional Vincent Simone for a tour.

Both of the dancers appeared on the BBC’s prime-time juggernaut for seven years apiece and got to know each other well.

Since leaving the main show, neither has wanted for work – Vincent toured a series of successful shows with his professional partner Flavia Cacace, while Ian also toured, set up a dancing-based fitness programme, and also became a regular on Strictly’s sister show, It Takes Two, hosted by his former celebrity partner Zoe Ball.

‘Me and Vince knew each other before Strictly from the competitive scene,’ Ian explains, ‘then he joined Strictly in series four, and I had started in series two, so we worked together a lot on Strictly.

‘I toured a lot for the last few years, I toured a couple of times with Natalie Lowe, then I toured with Oti Mabuse last year, and then I was thinking who can I tour with this year?

‘I was trying to get my thinking cap on, and maybe thinking about which girls were available to tour this year – then my dad said something to me: “Well, why don’t you get one of the old pro boys and tour together?” And that got me thinking.

‘Luckily I had heard that Flavia was taking some time off, so I knew Vincent and Flavia weren’t touring. I gave Vincent a call and he loved the idea. I already the name of Ballroom Boys and he was quite excited about being able to interact with the audience and tell funny stories about what has happened. And just to be able to create our own show I think appealed to him as well, rather than being told: “This is what you’re doing”.’

The Ballroom Boys tour’s first leg took place in spring, with a break for summer before resuming next Friday for another 19 shows, including the Kings Theatre in Southsea on October 1 – and they're already planning another tour, ‘act two’ in 2020.

‘This year it’s a very intimate show, with Vincent talking for the first time – he’s obviously renowned for dancing with Flavia in their amazing tango shows, but he’s never been able to actually connect with the audience and to talk with them and that’s one of the great things about our show – we really get the audience involved a lot and it’s quite interactive.

‘It’s one of those shows where you don’t have to be a Strictly fan or a dance fan to enjoy it, because it’s very much a variety show with a bit of everything in it.