'Strictly' star Bill Bailey had prepared to be the 'joke act'

Despite proving to be a roaring success on Strictly Come Dancing this year, Bill Bailey had prepared himself to be the "joke act".

Along with dancing partner Oti Mabuse, the comedian has consistently earned decent scores and is hugely popular among viewers as he has managed to avoid the dreaded dance-off so far.

However, the 55-year-old didn't assume it would go so well.

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“I fully expected not to be able to do it," Bailey told The Mirror ahead of this weekend's semi-final.

"I had the full range of outcomes I’d prepared for from being the joke act that goes out first, to actually even worse, just falling over in the middle of the routine, lurching, knocking one of the judges off their chair, setting fire to the studio, kicking a camera over, seeing the set burst into flames," he went on to joke.

Bailey said after his week two Quickstep, he found he could tackle more complicated steps and that boosted his confidence.

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His and Mabuse's Couple's Choice Street routine to Rapper’s Delight earned them their highest score of 27 and even got the seal of approval from Janet Jackson.

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Saturday evening will see the couple dance a Tango to Metallica's Enter Sandman, introducing some rare heavy metal to the programme.

It's also the first week the remaining stars will be tackling two dances as Bailey will also be putting on a Charleston too.

Due to his popularity, Bailey has been named a favourite to win the competition. That could make it two years in a row for Mabuse who lifted the Glitterball trophy with Emmerdale actor Kelvin Fletcher in 2019.

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