Winning Strictly changed his life, and Ore is now back in Manchester preparing for the “biggest role of his career”
08:37, 11 Oct 2025Updated 09:18, 11 Oct 2025
Ore Oduba prepares to take on the “biggest role of my career” in Manchester(Image: Jake Lindley / Manchester Evening News)
Ore Oduba may have won Strictly Come Dancing and appeared in a number of major theatre tours since, but he’s now preparing for what he describes as the “biggest role of my career.”
For Ore is about to play the lead in a major new production of Mel Brooks comedy Young Frankenstein at Manchester’s award-winning Hope Mill Theatre.
He will lead the show in the iconic role of Frederick Frankenstein made famous by Gene Wilder in the 1974 movie.
And he says: “It’s so funny, I just can’t wait for people to see it.”
He adds: “I love the show, I remember seeing it in the West End, so when the chance came to audition for Young Frankenstein in Manchester well, I didn’t think I’d get it. But within the week I was told they’d like me to take on this iconic role and I thought wow, oh my gosh, I guess I am ready to do the biggest role of my career, let’s get on with it.”
It’s a role that also brings him back to Manchester, a city he called home for seven years when he was then a BBC Breakfast presenter, in the times before Strictly came a-calling and life would change forever for Ore.
Ore won Strictly with dancer Joanne Clifton in 2016 in a memorable series that saw Ore wear his heart on his sleeve throughout the dance competition.
Thinking back to that time now, he still seems surprised about his win. He laughs: “I hadn’t planned to win Strictly! So I had absolutely no idea what to do after that happened.
Ore winning Strictly with Joanne Clifton in 2016(Image: PA)
“But what I did know, was that only 13 other people had won the show at that point – I knew I had to take some risks, I had to do something that was beyond what I could conceptualise at the time. And sure enough I was very fortunate to get some opportunities in television.
“The truth is something happened at Strictly and I remembered that I felt very at home on the stage. It was a huge part of my childhood, from the age of about 11 -18 I was on stage in every production under the sun at school, not a stage school, just normal school.
“Strictly allowed me to dream again, believe in my ability, and naturally it opens up doors that would not necessarily have been open.
“So while I had some opportunities in television, nothing stuck, there was no ‘this is what we want you to do for the forseeable’, so while that felt like a bit of a kick and something of a rejection, it was actually a blessing in disguise as it allowed me to make a choice that I knew was mine.
“I know that I’ve rediscovered in me something that I really want to make a go of, make a real effort in, and that allowed me to go to dance classes, see a vocal coach, and get on stage and see what happened.
There have been highs and lows for Ore since winning Strictly(Image: Jake Lindley / Manchester Evening News)
“From the very beginning, I just wanted a career, a career ideally of my own, that you can cultivate and feel the reward of what you’re putting in. So the idea was very much to build a career on stage.
“What I did tell myself after winning Strictly was if I don’t take some big ass risks, I’ll regret it in ten years time, and here we are nine years later and thank god I took some risks.”
He describes his career since Striclty as “an adventure because it’s been anything but straightforward, it’s been a rollercoaster, there’s been a lot going on ups and downs.” But as he prepares to turn 40 in November, it’s also a time for reflection.
He says: “I’d always said I wanted to cement a lot of the work I’m doing by playing a lead before I turn 40. I did Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the turn of this year, and then this is a whole other level – the biggest role of my career. And, it kind of manifested it, it has come after a lot of hard work, and faith put in me by a lot of wonderful people.”
Ore in rehearsals for Young Frankenstein(Image: Hope Mill)
Ore is full of praise for Hope Mill, a theatre that is celebrating its tenth anniversary with this major new production of Young Frankenstein.
He said: “Hope Mill have been wonderful sweethearts, it’s such a creative space, it’s a well-loved place in the north west, so many incredible performers and actors have graced that stage.
“For us to revive a show that was so popular in the West End in 2019, for those things to come together for the first time since then, in Hope Mill’s tenth anniversary year it feels very special.”
Ore is happy he took risks after winning Strictly(Image: Manchester Evening News)
It’s a very intimate space though, and I joke to Ore there’s literally no place to hide for performers there.
He laughs: “I usually take comfort from knowing the audience are in complete darkness, but in this theatre you very much see the whites of the eyes! But with a show like this, which is so funny, this Mel Brooks script is just golden, and I think you know the audience have their part to play, whether it be a pregnant pause or the barrage of jokes and comedy.”
Ore left Manchester in 2017 after Strictly, but says “That guy who left Manchester, could never have imagined that I’d be coming back in this guise, in this kind of place in my life. It feels so so special.”
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He hasbeen in rehearsals for the past few weeks and is full of praise for his fellow cast who include Jessica Martin as Frau Blücher, Rhiannon Chesterman as The Monster, Curtis Patrick as Igor, Simeon Truby as Inspector Hans Kemp, Julie Yammanee as Inga, and crew on the show which is directed and choreographed by Nick Winston.
It tells the story of the grandson of the infamous Victor Frankenstein, Frederick Frankenstein (pronounced “Fronk-en-steen”) who inherits his family’s estate in Transylvania.
With the help of a hunchbacked sidekick, Igor (pronounced “Eye-gore”), and a leggy lab assistant, Inga (pronounced normally), Frederick finds himself in the mad scientist shoes of his ancestors. “It’s alive!” he exclaims as he brings to life a creature to rival his grandfather’s. Eventually, of course, the monster escapes and hilarity continuously abounds.
Ore said: “This is one of the most talented bunch of performers I’ve had the honour to work with. You can’t put on a full song and dance show like this without incredible performers.”
Young Frankenstein is at Hope Mill Theatre from 10 October 2025 – 30 November 2025