KELVIN Fletcher and Oti Mabuse electrified the Strictly Come Dancing launch show with one of the steamiest sambas in its history. The performance was so convincing it might have left viewers wondering if the duo had already fallen victim to the programme’s infamous curse. But ex-Emmerdale hunk Kelvin, 35, believes a big part of the […]
KELVIN Fletcher and Oti Mabuse electrified the Strictly Come Dancing launch show with one of the steamiest sambas in its history.
The performance was so convincing it might have left viewers wondering if the duo had already fallen victim to the programme’s infamous curse.
But ex-Emmerdale hunk Kelvin, 35, believes a big part of the BBC1 show’s thrill is keeping people guessing who’s bedding who.
He said: “Why else do we watch Strictly? You’ve got these people and they have to look so majestic and beautiful and endearing and the story looks like, ‘Oh there’s something going on there’.
“Two strangers spend ten hours a day together, connected by the hip, naturally touching and very close — nose to nose. There’s a lot of signals there of what people will be looking at.
“If you’ve not bought into it then there’s something missing. So I absolutely expect, and I hope, that people watch me and Oti and see whatever narrative it is — whether that be that we’re in love — I want people to believe it.”
Kelvin will know he’s doing a good job if his wife of four years, actress Liz Marsland, also 35, could be fooled into thinking he could be besotted by 29-year-old Oti.
He said: “If there’s not that feeling there, my wife will be the first person to pull me up on it, because she absolutely wants to believe it too.
“I’m lucky though. Liz knows me, she’s known me since I was eight-years-old, and we’re very hap-pily married. And don’t forget, she’s watched me kiss numerous actresses on Emmerdale.
“So we haven’t even had the ‘Strictly curse’ conversation yet . . . perhaps we should.”
Kelvin’s samba saw him shoot to the top of the leader board with 32 points last Saturday.
A feat made all the more amazing because he was a last-minute replacement for injured Jamie Laing, from reality show Made In Chelsea.
But as eliminations start on tonight’s show, Kelvin and Oti know they will have to up their game.
Fortunately the show’s hunky signing has a not-so-secret weapon: His incredibly buff physique.
He said: “If it’s decided that I won’t be wearing much then so be it. If they feel it will create a certain look I’ll follow it — and let them be challenged on why they are doing it: Are they sexualising Kelvin? If people want to objectify me, they can do that.
“That was part of the reason to sign up for Strictly, how far can we take this? I’ll take it as far as it needs to go, if it matches the story.”
Kelvin, who often stripped off while playing hunky farmer Andy Sugden on ITV soap Emmerdale from 1996 to 2016, doesn’t let his uninhibited attitude stop there.
As a married father of two and brother to fellow actor Brayden, 30, and lawyer Dean, 33, he’s just as comfortable praising the male contestants as the female.
It’s no surprise he’s all for same sex couples on Strictly and wouldn’t mind dancing with a male professional.
Kelvin explained: “I’ve said, ‘He’s quite fit’, a few times. ‘I like how he moves’. I look at guys like Aljaz Skorjanec and Gorka Marquez, especially Gorka, and see them float around the dancefloor and I’m in awe.
“But they all look pretty good. I could dance with one of the taller guys and be the shorter dancer — I could be ‘the female’.
“Or perhaps I could find a guy smaller than me, is Gorka smaller than me? I think I had my heels on when I met him so I’m not sure.”
Kelvin is proud of the “feminine side” which head judge Shirley Ballas praised him for showing during his competitive debut last week.
He is keen to embrace the clinging, sequined costumes and has already had multiple spray tans.
His open-minded world view is partly down to being dad to three-year-old Marnie — and a little bit down to fellow contestant Michelle Visage, a judge on US reality show RuPaul’s Drag Race.
He said: “I’ve still got varnish on my toenails from my daughter painting them.
“I love it on a Sunday, she paints daddy’s nails and puts make-up on me. I think that’s hugely important for a dad and for a little kid to feel they can do that.
“Maybe after a season of Strictly, and spending a bit too much time with Michelle Visage, I’ll be like, ‘Maybe it’s just not my nails that need painting’, and maybe I’ll keep this sequinned top from the weekend and put a wig on.”
Despite becoming a big soap star, he has stayed in home town of Oldham, living close to his parents Karen and Warren — who’ve been married for 36 years.
But he is keen to point out that reports of his “ballet training” as a child are exaggerated.
He jokes that he just has natural “God given” rhythm — and a love for dancing to The Greatest Showman movie around the family home.
He said: “I started performing arts when I was six or seven years old with a theatre group called the Oldham Theatre Workshop in my home town.
“It’s quite well known for producing a host of successful people, including Anna Friel and Lisa Riley.
“I was like, ‘Oh I’ll give that a go’ and I can probably count on one hand how many ballet lessons I had. It was just part of performing arts to have them.
“Back then lads doing performing arts wasn’t the norm though. If you’re an actor then, ‘You’re a bit soft’, but as a young kid I was learning very quickly to be quite thick-skinned.
“You get rejected for about 99 per cent of jobs you go for. I remember going for a modelling job once and the lady took my mum to one side and said, ‘He’s got an actor’s face’. In other words, I wasn’t good looking enough.”
His confidence was boosted when Kelvin joined the cast of Emmerdale aged just 12.
He quickly went from skinny schoolboy to buff beefcake, with his character bedding some of his most beautiful co-stars, including Sammy Winward and Charley Webb.
But for the past 14 years he has only ever had eyes for Liz, who he met at primary school and married in 2015. They also have son Milo, who turns two in December.
Kelvin said: “If doing Strictly boosts your libido, my house is going to get very busy because I’m going to go from two kids to three.
“But I’m not sure if I’m going to have the energy. I’d like to think I would, but I’m a realist. I got home at 11pm last night and the first thing I did was get into bed and go to sleep — which isn’t very exciting.”
Kelvin has spent every day perfecting the waltz with Oti ready for tonight’s performance, which he prays won’t be the end of his Strictly journey.
Instead he hopes it will open up a whole new chapter in his acting career. He admits he has now “moved on” from Emmerdale and wouldn’t mind having a crack at getting work in the US.
But that might depend on whether he actually takes home the coveted glitterball — and how much he really wants it.
He said: “I’m pretty sure if you ask every contestant, ‘Would You like to win?’ The answer would be ‘Yes!’.
“So, am I putting everything into this? Absolutely.
“At the end of it I just want to come away feeling proud, whether that means I finish in Blackpool or Halloween or the final finale.
“And if I end up winning that would be just amazing.”
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