Interview with Bobby Seagull for The Real Dirty Dancing

17 February 2022

Interview with Bobby Seagull for The Real Dirty Dancing

Articles using this interview must credit The Real Dirty Dancing starts Monday 21st February at 9pm on E4 and All 4

 

Why did you want to do this show?

I'm a mathematician so I'm not going to over exaggerate, but it's in my top 15 films of all time. Sometimes it sneaks into my top 10. I've even seen the musical in the West End 10 years back. I only watched the film in my early twenties and at first it was like, "Oh, this is not a film for someone like me. I'm a football fan. I support West Ham. I'm not going to watch Dirty Dancing." And the first time I saw it, in about 2008, I was like, "Oh my God, I love it." I absolutely adored the film. Last summer Strictly Come Dancing champion Oti Mabuse got in touch with me to say, "Can you be a teacher for our online homeschool?" So, Oti along with her fellow Strictly pros Karen and Katya set up an online homeschool. They asked me to run online classes on maths, history, geography and do family quizzes. Every Saturday I had to do a family quiz and here is an amazing coincidence. In my last event of the summer last year, I hosted a movie night quiz. And at the end of the YouTube quiz, I did a sing along and I kid you not, my sing along was Time of My Life! I even did a pretend dance and iconic lift with a soft lemur toy for the YouTube quiz night.

So what is it about the movie that you love so much?

I loved the style, the way they just get away with their hair and the leather jackets, I've always loved the era the film was set in. So that's one thing that struck me around the film. I love music and the dancing, of course! I can't dance but I'm enthusiastic!

Are you the first on the dance floor at a party?

If you put me in a dance floor, I always move! I'll never be like, "Oh, I'm shy. I'm a bit scared." I'll always give it a go. There's no competence but there's a lot of enthusiasm! So for me, this movie has style, amazing music, there's great dance and there's a story. I love my rom coms. I used to say I'm embarrassed by my film watching habits, but I'm not at all. I always message my friends to ask them for a good rom com. I ask my Twitter followers for advice on what films to watch. The rom coms and romantic stuff always seem to be high up my priority list!

You said you watched the movie when you were in your twenties. Who did you fancy when you were watching it?

Ooh, it's a good question because everyone might say hey fancy Baby but to be honest, I did quite like Baby's sister Lisa! I know everyone wants to fancy Baby. That's probably the answer you wanted but I think probably Lisa is more my type, I like dark hair!

What did you think of the line-up for this show?

I'm stuck in an intriguing world where I'm still a part-time secondary school maths teacher in a real state school setting and marking homework. And then another day I'm hanging out with Anthea Turner and Lee from Blue, it's literally bonkers. After I came back from filming this, I was teaching the next day in school. And I was telling one of my teacher friends in school and they were like, "Bobby, how does your mind, literally just compute the variety? Hanging out with YouTuber Saffron Barker, Towie’s Arg and Tom from Gogglebox and then the next day you're back teaching quadratic equations."

You were paired with Chelsee Healey on day one and told to show off your dirty dancing skills, what was that like?

Oh my God, at first I was like, "Oh my God. I've seen you on, Hollyoaks. I watched you on Waterloo Road!” So when I was paired with Chelsee, I'm like, "Oh, okay. I’m only a little taller than you. That's why they paired us up." But when I dance on the dance floor, even though I'm enthusiastic and a bit crazy, I don't dance with other people. You know those crazies that dance by themselves, that’s me! I'm happy to do that but grinding with someone, that's just not me. I'm like, “ah!”, but then I did sign up for Dirty Dancing. I gave it a go. Even if my competence is questioned I think people will never question my heart. I always put everything into that!

What was it like getting up close and personal with your dance partners?

I now feel much more comfortable in people's space as long as they're willing to allow someone into their dance space. But at the start of the show I was thinking, "Oh no. Where do I put my hands? This is a bit awkward." But as the journey went on one you become more comfortable with the people because it's quite an intense experience. We're there for 16 days, working long hours, with each other all the time. So you bond with the people on an emotional level. And then when that bonding happens, it also means that you're physically more comfortable because you're not going to suddenly do something strange because they know that trust has developed. So the chemistry, trust is a key part of it. And it takes time. There are some people where the chemistry is there immediately because they're used to the world of dancing up close, I'm not. With me, it's something that took a bit of time. But now that I've been through that process, I'm looking forward to going to another wedding soon. Because I'm a single guy and people are going to be like Bobby, maybe he's not the best dancer, but he's got a confidence and he can move!

You're going to bust out some Patrick Swayze moves aren't you?

Oh my God, definitely! But thing is, I'm going to request the exact songs that I’ve learned dances to from the film because I'm not good enough yet that I can go freestyle. The moves that are in the film, I can do those moves. So I'm going to say to the DJ at the next wedding I go to, "Play Hungry Eyes." And I'll be like, get the lady and she'll be like, "Oh my God, this guy's so smooth."

How did you bring out that sexy side in the dance?

To be honest, it's a real challenge because part of being sexy and sultry is, you need a deadpan face. I smile all the time. So that was a challenge, in terms of how to channel my positive vibes into something a bit more. I'm not a sexy guy, that’s not me. I'm someone that's really positive, friendly, energetic but I do work at things. I tried in a couple of dances to channel Patrick’s style and swagger. It's difficult. But again, I made slow bits of progress towards that!

What was Ashley Roberts like to work with?

Oh, she's an incredible professional and such a warm person. I obviously knew of Ashley as one of the Pussycat Dolls, but I got to know Ashley in terms of television by watching her on Strictly. And again, I'm a Strictly fanatic, so I watch the Saturday show, the Sunday show. I watch It Takes Two when I can and I listen to the podcast every week. Literally the next time I do Mastermind again, my topic will be Strictly because I’m a super fan.

We need to get you on Strictly then?

Oh my God. Imagine that! I've always watched that show but actually now having done this dance experience, I think I'd really love to do that. I think it's the idea of going into something, immersing yourself in that, it’s exciting. The two weeks on Dirty Dancing were immensely hard work. Everyone had to really push themselves. But I pretty much for 99% of the experience, it sounds cliche but I literally was just having the time of my life, I was loving every single minute. I think I'd be similar on Strictly because it looks like you have to work really hard. Obviously, I teach part-time. So we would need a bit of a juggling balance. But I think generally if I do something, I immerse myself in that field.

What was it like working with Keith Lemon?

Keith is so smart and hilarious! He's got this wonderful infectious energy. I bounce off that because to be honest, I can be a more serious Mr Seagull school teacher, but with Keith around, my natural state becomes even more energetic and hyper!

What was it like attempting the iconic lake lift?

Everyone was a bit concerned about doing that scene, in terms of that's one of the iconic scenes in this film and it's almost like setting you up for a fall. You need to be able to have a good attempt at this, if you're trying to get to the final and do the lift. I was paired with Saffron. And I know that my students, more than anything, they'll be watching this scene as many of them totally adore Saffron and her YouTube work. They'll be glued to that, can I lift Saffron? I make a good attempt but Saffron gets in the water quite a few times, let’s say that!

How would you sum up the experience of doing this show?

This was the best professional experience of my life, ever! And genuinely. You're really pushing yourself physically and emotionally and mentally. I made so many new friends, not just the dancers, the celebs, but the choreographers, the host, the production crew. So I would say it is a life changing experience. It's made me re-evaluate what I think I'm capable of doing. I think it's also made me realise I love the idea of doing these types of shows.

END