As all Strictly fans know, the rhumba is a dance of sheer emotional power.
But surely no contestant has ever produced one of more feeling than YouTuber George Clarke did in week eight of this series – not just because of his impassioned dancefloor performance, but in the way he dedicated his routine as a ‘love letter’ to his family, specifically his adored mother Nicky.
That ‘love letter’ was one which drove his parents to weep in the audience and Clarke, too, was tearful when he revealed that Nicky was battling breast cancer.
‘Nobody deserves what she has gone through, but least of all her,’ he told dance partner Alexis Warr.
It was all too clear that the strength of his emotions threatened to overwhelm him – and equally clear that this was the moment when the 26-year-old influencer from Bristol won himself an entirely new fan base.
Until then, it’s fair to say no one over 30 would have heard of Clarke. Of his 2.4million followers on TikTok, 843,000 on Instagram and 640,000 YouTube subscribers, few were from Middle England. Under-30s, though, are big fans, thanks to his hugely popular Useless Hotline Podcast where he and friend Max Balegde answer ‘queries and dilemmas no matter how big, small, weird, or embarrassing’.
It’s all too easy to see why Strictly bosses hope that privately-educated George’s popularity with savvy online youngsters may revitalise what has become an increasingly toxic and tired television brand. And so it is that George has become something of an unlikely favourite for tomorrow’s final – with viewers only further endeared to him as he is the only finalist without professional dance training or experience.
He faces West End star Amber Davies, who has received much opprobrium for her extensive career on stage, as well as trained dancer-turned-footballer Karen Carney. Indeed, one source close to him tells me that the only time George danced before Strictly was when he was at Exeter University studying for his degree in Sports and Exercise Science.
George Clarke and dance partner Alexis Warr (pictured) are hoping to emerge victorious in Saturday’s finale of Strictly Come Dancing
‘Dancing in the student union or at the student discos was probably about the only time that George has ever danced,’ they said. ‘Then you look at Amber and Karen, and you realise just how amazingly George has done.’
And while most celebrities take to the floor to boost their careers, Clarke, again, is different.
His drive to succeed on Strictly, I can reveal, has been solely powered by his mother’s illness. According to those who know him, nothing would make her happier than to see her son win the show.
‘The news about his mother has been hard for George,’ says a source close to him. ‘But he has the opportunity to put a smile on her face in a way that he could never have dreamt of. He’s just a really nice guy from Bristol – totally normal in every way. George didn’t think he would win – after all, he has no performing background at all.
‘But it would just be so lovely for him to do this for his mum.’
It was last month that Clarke told how Nicky – who has been a regular in the audience – was diagnosed with breast cancer. The illness now dominates their family. ‘It feels like it’s taking up so much of her life now,’ he said.
Even before she learned of her cancer, Nicky had endured health struggles. When Clarke was a teenager, she was diagnosed with encephalitis, a serious condition that causes swelling in the brain. Speaking about it, Clarke said: ‘When I was 16, I was about to leave for hockey practice with my dad and he said, “Oh, I’ll just check on Mum one more time” because she was feeling a bit ill.
‘He went upstairs and she was having a seizure.’ Clarke added: ‘She’s the most selfless person I’ve ever met. The first thing she did when she came out of hospital was apologise for what she’d put us through.’
YouTuber George Clarke has become the people’s favourite in this year’s Strictly for both his impassioned dancefloor performance and the way he dedicated his routine as a ‘love letter’ to his family, specifically his adored mother Nicky – who is currently fighting breast cancer
Another woman supporting the YouTuber in the Strictly audience is his girlfriend, model Yasmin Bennett. The couple confirmed their romance shortly before his Strictly announcement to avoid speculation about a romance with his professional dance partner. He said of Yasmin: ‘She’s the most supportive girlfriend I could ever ask for. She’s amazing. I think she believed in me more than I did.’ Aside from his mother’s illness, Clarke’s childhood was content: he grew up in the smart Bristol suburb of Emerson’s Green with his parents and older sister Emily.
But for all his ubiquity online, there’s one fact well-spoken George – known as ‘Clarkey’– hasn’t posted about: his father Sean is the managing director of Aardman Animations, the studio behind Wallace & Gromit.
His professional success meant Clarke was privately educated at Collegiate School in Bristol, which charges £21,000 a year. Yet George didn’t utilise his father’s showbiz connections for a quick-fix job, and chose to go to university instead. No nepo baby here. As for his co-stars tomorrow, they face an uphill struggle for votes because of the anger about their dance backgrounds. Ms Carney, a former Lioness, was taught dance until she was 15 when, realising she had a future as a footballer star, she switched hobbies.
She said: ‘I enjoyed football when I was a kid and had loads of kickabouts but I didn’t join my first club until I was 11. Until then, it was all about dancing for me.
‘We did loads of different routines and genres of music; street dancing, hip-hop, disco, rock ’n’ roll, slow dancing, team dances.’
Ms Carney, 38, added that she trained in dance for up to three hours every Saturday before competing in ‘big events’ on a Sunday.Meanwhile, Ms Davies, 29, has enraged viewers – many of whom are refusing to vote for her – after her dance background emerged.
The Welshwoman first found fame on Love Island back in 2017 when she won the dating competition and was drafted in just days before Strictly’s first show to replace Dani Dyer after she fractured her ankle in training.
Ms Davies’ dance career began when she was a youngster, first at a stage school near her home in Denbigh, north Wales, before landing a scholarship at London’s prestigious Urdang Academy, moving to the capital to pursue her dancing dreams aged 16.
After 12 weeks, the pair will be up against Amber Davies & Nikita Kuzmin and Karen Carney & Carlos Gu in the final
After her Love Island triumph, in 2019 she won a West End role playing Judy in 9 to 5 The Musical – a show based on the songs of Dolly Parton.
Since then she has also appeared on ITV’s Dancing On Ice, as well as taking a host of other major stage roles, including as a leading actress in Back To The Future, The Great Gatsby, Bring It On and Pretty Woman.
So successful is her stage career that I can reveal Ms Davies won’t take part in the Strictly tour because she has already committed to playing the lead role of Elle Woods in the theatre show Legally Blonde – based on the 2001 rom com starring Reese Witherspoon – when it tours the UK next year.
Amber had already signed the deal before she joined Strictly. Some show insiders were, it’s fair to say, not best pleased by this.
Indeed, I can reveal that they have also been left cross at her ‘constant moaning’ that she is being targeted by online bullies.
‘It’s all getting a bit tedious now,’ says one source connected to the programme.
Meanwhile, Clarke’s stint on Strictly has taken him to another level of fame, with television offers now said to be in the pipeline.
‘He is going to be a star – not just online, but in the real world too,’ one source tells me. And as he becomes a household name – and potentially triumphs tomorrow – surely Clarkey will have no bigger cheerleader than his mother.
