Strictly Come Dancing’s tale of love to mark Remembrance Day
THE ENDURING love story of a couple who met during the Second World War will be told in an emotional performance to mark Remembrance Day on Strictly Come Dancing tonight.
Madge and Basil Lambert (center) on Strictly Come Dancing
Basil and Madge Lambert both grew up in southern England but it took a 5,000-mile journey to Burma to bring them together.
The devoted couple, both 93, will be in the audience for the Strictly results show on BBC One at 7.15pm tonight to watch professional dancers AJ Pritchard and Chloe Hewitt tell their romantic story to the music of Dame Vera Lynn’s wartime classic I’ll Be Seeing You.
They celebrated their 68th wedding anniversary last month. Madge, who was from Dover, had volunteered to be an international Red Cross nurse in India just days after her 21st birthday.
Professional dancers AJ Pritchard and Chloe Hewitt will tell Madge and Basil's romantic story
Ed Balls performs GANGNAM STYLE on Strictly
Basil, who was from Woking in Surrey, was in the Army and they met when they were both stationed in Chittagong, then in Burma.
This is simple storytelling but the song is fiendishly difficult to dance to
Madge says they fell in love within 24 hours of meeting but were forced apart until the end of the war when Basil was posted to Saigon in Vietnam.
He didn’t return to England until 1947 and they married a year later.
They were forced apart until the end of the war when Basil was posted to Saigon in Vietnam
Strictly choreographer Bill Deamer, who has worked on many West End shows, including Cats, said: “This is simple storytelling but the song is fiendishly difficult to dance to, and there is a lot of acting and eye contact to bring this love story to life.”
Basil and Madge, both members of the British Legion, now live in Selsey, West Sussex.
• Please visit www.rbl.org.uk/remember for information on Royal British Legion