Stacey Dooley: Kevin Clifton drops surprise confession about Strictly Come Dancing partner
STACEY DOOLEY made history on Saturday night as she and professional partner Kevin Clifton were the first couple to perform the Quickstep in the first live show of Strictly Come Dancing.
Strictly: Stacey Dooley and Kevin Clifton dance the Quickstep
Stacey and her partner Kevin wowed Strictly Come Dancing viewers on Saturday night and now, the professional dancer has revealed he wanted to partner up with the documentary maker.
The 35-year-old revealed he was thrilled when Stacey replied to a tweet about one of her documentaries.
As a result, he told producers he wanted to be partnered with Stacey as he was a “big fan”.
He told Radio Times: “I think it was about a year ago, maybe two years ago, I actually tweeted Stacey after her one of her documentaries to say ‘Oh I really enjoyed that, it’s really important stuff that you’re doing.’
I made no secret of the fact to the producers of the show
“And she tweeted back saying ‘Oh yeah, thanks very much.’”
He went on to reveal: “I’ll be honest, I made no secret of the fact to the producers of the show and was like, ‘If there’s any chance I could be partnered with Stacey that would be wicked because I’m a big fan.’”
Stacey’s performance with Kevin on Saturday night saw the pair place eighth on the leaderboard with 24 points.
The 31-year-old looked stunning as she performed in a long glitzy gown with a slit up her left leg.
Following their routine, bookmakers revealed she was the new favourite to win the series.
William Hill have placed her chances of winning above former favourite Ashley Roberts who topped the leaderboard with 29 points.
STRICTLY COME DANCING 2018: WHO IS STACEY DOOLEY PAIRED WITH? WHO IS HER DANCE PARTNER?
The journalist’s odds of winning have been slashed to just 9/2 while Vick Hope and Ashley’s odds are at 5/1.
While Stacey and Kevin are now favourite to win, those tuning into the BBC series were not too impressed with her scores.
Many believed the pair had been under-marked for the stunning routine.
Taking to Twitter to comment on the judges’ scores for the pair, one viewer wrote: “I demand a higher score than 24, that was such a hard dance for week 1 and Stacey smashed it!”
Another added: “#Strictly 24 seems a little underscored for Stacey and Kevin!”
“Let me just say that @StaceyDooley and @keviclifton were absolutely robbed of the top spot on the leaderboard this week, that quickstep was incredible #Strictly,” a third shared.
Following her performance, Stacey took to Twitter herself to thank her followers for their support.
“You guys, FULLY, TRULY, break my heart! A sincere thank you to all of you,” she told her 156,000 followers.
“I can’t wait to do it all again next week.”
Strictly Come Dancing airs Saturday on BBC One at 6.30pm.