The comic has dazzled viewers with his dancing skills. He explains how he has used lockdown to learn exotic musical instruments, how the arts are being devastated by the pandemic, and why we’re all sick of ‘jackanape’ politicians
Bill Bailey is not sitting comfortably for today’s interview. “Dancing is like playing a piece of music,” says the 55-year-old comedian and unlikely star of this year’s Strictly Come Dancing, “only with dancing your whole body is the instrument. And if you’re doing that all day, you just ache generally.”
He is Zooming in from his conservatory, lush greenery unfurling behind him. Chatting to Bailey is a bit like being slowly hypnotised: he has piercing blue eyes and even his most dazzling array of animal facts (did you know, for instance, that wolves have perfect pitch? Or that the grey squirrel has a scampering speed of 12mph?) are delivered with a calm and steady manner. He has already cast a spell over any Strictly viewers who might have assumed he was this year’s novelty pick; in fact, Bailey has spent the opening weeks moving from the position of underdog to favourite to win the whole thing: a dazzling quickstep featuring a CGI elephant barely missed a beat, while his paso doble to Ennio Morricone’s theme from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly drew a whopping 26 points from the three judges, from the maximum possible 30.