George Clarke has admitted that his upcoming routine on Strictly Come Dancing means ‘so much more’ than just the routine because it will be dedicated to his family
George Clarke has admitted that his upcoming routine on Strictly Come Dancing means “so much more” than just the routine. The YouTube star, 25, is gearing up to perform a Rumba on Saturday’s edition of the BBC competition alongside professional partner Alexis Warr.
They will perform to Lily Allen’s cover of Keane classic Somewhere Only We Know, which his sister performed at his grandfather’s funeral, but as George appeared on Wednesday’s edition of the spin-off series It Takes Two, he emotionally explained that he has been struggling to ‘not put pressure’ on himself because he knows how much it will all mean to his family.
He said: “It definitely will be. Especially considering the past few weeks have been much much more ‘ok I can do the steps but can I perform?’ I feel like the steps are very important but the performance is everything to me because it’s a song that means a lot to me and my family. And yeah it is hard this week to not put the pressure on myself because it is a dance that I want to get right even more so.”
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But, It Takes Two presenter Janette Manrara instantly stepped in to comfort George, and she reminded him: “You have got to let that go so you can enjoy it because it is about enjoyment. Like we was this past week!”
Just days ago, George admitted: “So my sister sang the song Somewhere Only We Know at my grandad’s funeral and it’s a song that means a lot to my whole family.
“My mum has had a lot of trouble in the last 10 years so I thought it’d be nice to use this platform to devote something to her and the rest of the family. Hopefully they’ll be less on the edge of their seat wondering if it’s going to go wrong.”
George has consistently been at the higher end of the leader board throughout his time in the competition so far, but admitted ahead of his next challenge that it can all feel ‘really strange’ to him because performing isn’t something he’s necessarily used to.
He said: “It’s really strange, the whole sort of performing side of it because that’s not something I do.”
Celebrity and PR expert Kayley Cornelius has speculated that George’s social media savviness is giving him is giving him an advantage in the competition. “As we see most years with Strictly stars, the type of content he’s now pushing out, he’s featuring Alexis in a lot of his videos, so he’s really trying to captivate the fans that may not have been familiar with him before,” she said on behalf of Online Slots provider Spin Genie.
He’s posting a lot more consistently and this new type of content seems to really be working with him, it seems to be pushing him on the algorithm more than usual. Strictly’s really bringing a whole new audience for him in that sense.”
She added that George’s large following – over 2.4m followers on TikTok – is also helping the BBC. “To be honest, I think George is doing Strictly more of a favour than Strictly is doing George,” she said.
“He’s bringing in a lot more of the viewers this year. I think there’ll be a conscious effort from the Strictly social team to make sure that he is featured more in the content going forward. They’ll know that a lot of George’s audience lands online. He has a large following, a really engaging, impressionable audience as well.”
She added: “George has had such an advantage point going into the competition. This year, the voting system has changed where they’ve moved votes online – that’s his bread and butter.
“He’s worked really hard, he’s performing well, and he’s just an all-round lovely person. So I think a combination of all three of those things will take him right to the finish line. And you know, with the betting markets at the minute, it is just looking like his competition to win now.”
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