Interview with Tom Malone Jr for The Real Dirty Dancing

17 February 2022

Interview with Tom Malone Jr for The Real Dirty Dancing

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

Why did you sign up for the Real Dirty Dancing?

Literally, since being a kid, my mum used to love Dirty Dancing. I think everyone's mum loves Dirty Dancing, right? Obviously, I've always been a dancer, but I specialise in breaking, so I'm normally dancing upside down. I like challenges, so it was a bit of a challenge for me to be doing something that's still within the realms of dance, but completely out of my comfort zone, like the style that I don't normally do.

Are you a fan of the film?

Yeah, of course I've watched it. I think everyone's watched it at some point. Every kid has sat there when his mum's watched it and thought Johnny Castle was the coolest person in the world. I think it's one of those films that's got so many iconic scenes. It can never really get old. It's one of those films that, when you watch it, you don't think, oh, this is a really old, rubbish film. It's still a good film and there's so many scenes that are iconic, with the Hungry Eyes moment and then on the log and then the lift and the final dance. There's so many different bits that make it a classic film.

Being a dancer yourself, did you think that you might have a bit of an advantage going into this?

Yeah, I think there was an element of me having an advantage on the dance side of things, but then the show wasn't necessarily just about the dance. It's also about being Johnny and the character side of things. And that's one thing I'm not used to, because I'm normally used to being on stage as me, rather than being on stage as someone else. It was a new experience, and obviously some of the people that I was on the show with were actors as well, so then they had an advantage in that realm of things. It was one of those things where some people might have an advantage in one area, other people excel in another. It was definitely a lot of fun and I definitely felt like I had a bit of an advantage when it comes to the dancing, but then there was other bits that I was definitely like, okay, this is out of my comfort zone.

Dirty Dancing is all about the chemistry, how did you bring that to the dance floor?

The chemistry thing was hard for me because I'm not used to dancing with a partner like that. With what I do, I'm normally dancing by myself, or with my crew, which is a bunch of guys, so we don't really spend that much time staring into each other's eyes and doing the Mambo! It was definitely something new for me, but I had good partners and I think it was a case of just getting comfortable with each other, so that it's like if I'm staring at you really intensely in the eyes, you know that it's what we've got to do and it's fine. It's nothing weird. It's kind of getting comfortable with people that you don't feel weird in those situations.

What is it like getting up close and personal with somebody that you've just met?

You know what? With the professional dancers it was really easy, because it was like they'd done this before and it was what they do. It was their forte, so it was fine and she would literally just stare me in the face and look like we love each other. She was so switched onto it and knew how to get that out of people, so that was great. It’s always easier when there's one person that's super confident to bring it out of the person that's not as confident. Then the minute we were paired with the other celebrities, it was like, okay, now neither of us are really that confident with this and we have to find a way to make it work. Then it got a little bit more awkward. It didn't feel like a competition. We all felt like we were all in it together, so we was all having a lot of fun and it made it a lot easier that there wasn't a weird competitive atmosphere. It was just fun and everyone was having a bit of a laugh with each other.

You all had Dirty Dancing masterclasses, what was your favourite?

Hands down, my favourite thing we had to do the whole time was the bungee jump. It was the best and the worst. It was done on this crane and we're about to go and the boys have to go backwards. Every cell in my body is telling me that I should not be falling off this crane, because there's nothing behind me. My whole body is fighting. This guy was pushing me and it was the most terrifying experience of my life, all the way down. And then the euphoria when you bounce and realise you're alive and bounce back up is amazing. It was both the worst and best experience of the whole thing.

What was it like doing the famous lake lift with Saffron?

Full transparency, I was not worried in the slightest about Saffron going in the water. I was worried about me in the water, because I'm not the strongest swimmer. I'm not the strongest swimmer at all. We got in, the stones that were in the bottom were shifting as you stood there, so you can get a good grounding. I'm actually quite proud that I managed to get Saffron above my head. I think we actually hit the lift position for a split second. I'm happy with that. But yeah, that wasn't an ideal situation. It was freezing!

How was it filming the iconic moments from the movie?

Oh, the log scene was really fun. That was really, really fun. It was a lot colder than would've been ideal, but it was a lot of fun. We had to recreate the Johnny-Robbie fight scene as well, that was hilarious. I've never laughed so much in my life, than watching Bobby reenact the fight scene. It was the best thing in the world. He started shouting, "Get out of my pub!" he was doing all different accents. I wasn't quite sure what was going on, but he brought Bobby Seagull to Dirty Dancing. That's all you need in your life, really. I think nearly all the funniest moments that I had filming all came from Bobby, I think. Hilarious. He's literally perfect.

How did you entertain yourselves in the evenings?

To be honest, it was quite long filming days, so a lot of the time we'd get back late and a lot of us would just get showers and go to bed. It was more when we were waiting in the changing rooms and stuff, when we were setting up cameras before we were about to do stuff that we would have a laugh together. That's when we mostly was just doing stupid stuff. We started bringing the speakers with us and instead of playing the songs from Dirty Dancing, we were just playing old school garage and having a good time.

Who's the naughtiest out of all of you lot?

Lee Ryan. Oh, it's just Lee's always got a sneaky little something that he wants to do that he's not really allowed to do, but he's going to try and do it anyway. He's always got something going on.

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