Former Strictly Come Dancing professional Brendan Cole has revealed why he no longer has his trophy, more than 20 years after he won the show with Natasha Kaplinsky
Brendan won the very first series of Strictly Come Dancing with Natasha Kaplinsky in 2004 (Image: Comic Relief via Getty Images)
Brendan Cole has revealed that his Glitterball Trophy from Strictly Come Dancing ended up in pieces. The TV star, 49, won the inaugural series of the BBC Saturday night favourite alongside newsreader Natasha Kaplinsky in 2004 and was awarded the “plasticky” prize upon their victory.
While he tried to take care of the “plastic” prize over the years, it eventually ended up being thrown out after surviving a number of house moves.
He said: “My Glitterball trophy lived in a garage for many years. It was shipped from house to house and eventually it ended up in about 16 pieces. That sounds like I didn’t care about it, I did, it was quite plasticky and so sadly it’s sitting nicely in a waste site somewhere”.
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Brendan and Natasha were the very first winners of Strictly(Image: Press Association)
He also competed with Emmerdale legend Claire King and a host of others during his time on the show(Image: BBC)
Brendan appeared on Strictly for well over a decade, and whilst he did not manage to win again, he made it to the final with Sophie Ellis-Bextor, and Lisa Snowdon. During his tenure with the programme, he also danced with Emmerdale star Claire King as well as Destiny’s Child singer Michelle Williams and former Casualty actress Sunetra Sarker amongst a host of others.
Prior to finding fame on the dancing show, Brendan won several dance championships but admitted that Strictly Come Dancing was the job that ‘shaped’ him for life in the entertainment industry.
In an interview with the Daily Star, he added: “Being on Strictly Come Dancing changed me dramatically from year one to year 15. I started out hot-headed, wanting to prove myself, and I learned how to be on television on the job – mainly through mistakes. I look back at some of my behaviour, and I’m embarrassed by the ridiculousness of it.
He left the show in 2017 after competing with Good Morning Britain star Charlotte Hawkins(Image: PA)
“But I learned how to be an entertainer, how to be good on TV, and I learned from Sir Bruce Forsyth every single day. He was the master. I learned from my peers too. I could write chapters on it, but in short – Strictly shaped me.”
Brendan recently claimed that the show requires a scoring transformation to make it fairer on the celebrities with limited dance experience.
Regarding a scoring modification, the star commented: “The thing is, if you’re a great dancer, you’re always going to be at the top of the leaderboard. For the first five or six weeks, you’re safe regardless of audience votes, simply because of your ability to dance. That’s why the leaderboard can feel unfair.
“I’d love to see some kind of system that levels it out. Say one contestant starts at level one and another starts at level eight – build that into the scoring.
“Maybe take the judges’ mark and multiply it by a performer’s rating, to give an overall score. Something like that would make it a fairer playing field, because right now, someone with dance experience is always going to have an advantage.
“That’s also why the show works, though – it isn’t just about dancing. It’s about personality.” Brendan also disclosed that he’d prefer to be matched with an experienced professional if he was to join Strictly. “I wouldn’t want a brand-new pro – I’d want someone who knows what they’re doing,” he explained.
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