\n \u201cI\u2019m from Glasgow,\u201d he says, with a short laugh. \u201cI was back in the city recently and couple of guys shouted at me in the street, \u2018oi, Ross the Boss? We\u2019ve seen you in the clubs – nae dancing \u2026\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Ross \u2013 former Radio Clyde DJ, TV presenter, author, actor \u2013 is Scotland\u2019s next great hope on the famous dance show.\n<\/p>\n
\n Ross at a charity event in Glasgow (Image: Gary Brown)\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cI\u2019m terrified, I\u2019m excited, I can\u2019t wait,\u201d he says, with a nervous laugh. \u201cI\u2019ll just do my best and try not to let Scotland down.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Ross, who is 63, joins the likes of former England rugby captain Chris Robshaw, 39, La Voix, 45, star of RuPaul\u2019s Drag Race UK and broadcaster Dani Dyer, 29, daughter of ex-EastEnders star Danny, in Strictly this year.\n<\/p>\n
\n Is his dancing up to scratch?\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cI\u2019m very good at the Slosh,\u201d he jokes. \u201cAnd they\u2019ve never done a ceilidh on Strictly, can you believe it? I\u2019m determined to get some Scottish country dancing in there, because it will remind me of my schooldays in Glasgow.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Ross with sister Elaine and parents Isabel and David (Image: Courtesy of Ross King)\n<\/p>\n
\n Ross, sister Elaine, mother Isabel and father David lived in Knightswood. David was a chartered engineer, Isabel looked after the home and her family: decidedly \u201cunshowbizzy\u201d, agrees King, who says that nevertheless, the desire to perform was in his make-up from an early age.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cIt came from being a failed footballer, I think,\u201d he says. \u201cBertie Auld at Partick Thistle [where Ross was a promising youth player] telling me I\u2019d wear out more mirrors than football boots made me realise perhaps this was not the world for me.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n He worked in hospital radio before getting the Radio Clyde Saturday boy job.\n<\/p>\n
\n Ross King (Image: Newsquest)\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cIt was a brilliant grounding,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd to work for Tiger Tim Stevens? I was lucky to get to the kind of level I got to, but nobody was as big as the Tiger at Clyde in those days.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cHe gave me my nickname, in fact – Ross the Boss – when I was a kid helping on his show. It just stuck.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n (Image: Newsquest)\n<\/p>\n
\n After becoming Britain’s youngest-ever daytime host with his show on Clyde at the age of 17, Ross moved to London and enjoyed high profile presenting roles on the likes of Pebble Mill and Young Krypton Factor.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n He also acted in the West End, and in movies, including The Day After Tomorrow and Young Hercules.\n<\/p>\n
\n Ross moved to Los Angeles in 2000, from where he now reports on the glamorous world of showbiz for daytime ITV show Lorraine.\n<\/p>\n
\n He \u201cpops home\u201d to Glasgow a couple of times a year, to visit his sister Elaine, brother-in-law Jim and niece and nephew Hollie and Euan.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cAlso, my dentist is still in Glasgow,\u201d he says, with a grin. \u201cAnd my hairdresser. I know, people in LA think that\u2019s wild.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Ross has interviewed some of the biggest names in Hollywood including Brad Pitt and Clint Eastwood. When Olly Murs had to pull out of supporting Take That in Glasgow, Gary Barlow called Ross for help. (He was in the Radisson hotel\u2019s bar at the time, listening to young singer Daniel Rooney, so luckily for Rooney, he got the gig.)\n<\/p>\n
\n (Image: Newsquest)\n<\/p>\n
\n In 2018, he celebrated being awarded an MBE in the Honours List for services to broadcasting and charity with a party in Glasgow. Jason Donovan popped in, so too did King\u2019s mentor and friend Tiger Tim Stevens, comedian and actor Allan Stewart and businessman Tom Hunter.\n<\/p>\n
\n (Image: PA)\n<\/p>\n
\n Ross has many fond memories of Glasgow – \u00a0the times he gigged on the paddle steamer Waverley (\u201cI used to shout daft things, like \u2018the duty free is now open, or ‘taxi for Smith\u2019); performing at the King\u2019s Theatre; creating the city\u2019s first under-18 club nights.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cMe and Gary Marshall, the Sunshine Boys, at Henry Afrika\u2019s,\u201d he says, with a grin. \u201cI remember saying to them, you should do some early Sunday nights, get the kids in, serve them ginger.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n He laughs. \u201cThey said it would never work, but that first night we were driving up York Street and the queues were already round the block.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n (Image: BBC)\n<\/p>\n
\n The city is still \u201chome\u201d, says Ross and he clearly misses his parents, both now sadly deceased.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cMy mum and dad were the most supportive, loving parents,\u201d he says, gently. \u201cMy mum was so full of energy. And she was very ‘Glasgow’ about things.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cI remember calling her to tell her I was appearing on Celebrity Squares, which was huge Saturday night television in those days.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cShe said \u2018oh, that\u2019s great, son, I hope you win the car.\u2019\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n King snorts with laughter. \u201cI had to say, no, mum, I\u2019m one of the celebrities,” he says.\n<\/p>\n
\n “My sister and I speak about our parents all the time and we always end up laughing about the things they said, the silliness of it all.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n He smiles. \u201cThey taught us life is a serious business, but sometimes you just have to have a laugh.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Strictly Come Dancing will launch on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on Saturday, September 20.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cI\u2019m from Glasgow,\u201d he says, with a short laugh. \u201cI was back in the city recently and couple…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":420299,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7826],"tags":[748,918,4884,712,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-420298","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-glasgow","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-glasgow","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-scotland","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115195309822892111","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=420298"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420298\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/420299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=420298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=420298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=420298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}