If the public get me to the Strictly Come Dancing final I’ll drop my trousers on live telly, promises Matt Goss
BROS star Matt Goss has sung his band’s hit When Will I Be Famous? to millions of fans – which was news to Nadiya Bychkova when she was paired with him on Strictly.
The BBC1 dance pro, who wasn’t even born when the group stormed the charts in the late Eighties, had her mind blown when she discovered the extent of the 53-year-old singer’s fame.
Nadiya, 33, said: “I did my homework. I watched the famous Bros documentary and absolutely loved it.
“But to see that old footage of them, it’s still difficult to try and understand how big they were.
“Even now, as we’re coming out of the rehearsal room, Matt can’t even get in the car without fans stopping him. It takes so much time after rehearsal, when he’s already tired, but he’s still always so nice to everyone.
“We have people standing outside the studio where we rehearse and they want to see him and say how much they support him.
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“There’s so much love around him and it’s beautiful to see.”
even jokingly suggests that if they make it to the final, her dance partner might drop his trousers — like he used to do to thrill his Brosette fans when he performed on stage alongside drummer twin Luke.
Matt said: “I did that once for a joke and it ended up being part of our tour.
“One of my goals of being on Strictly is that the British public get to experience the real me a bit more.
“I’m actually a lot sillier than people think.
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“I’ll drop my trousers again if we make it to the final, and Luke says that if we make it to the end he’ll come to watch us in the studio, which is really big for my brother.
“Luke wouldn’t mind me saying he’s not a lover of dance, and since we were kids he was never a big fan of dancing in public.”
Matt’s rollercoaster relationship with Luke has been a huge influence on his life, as has the tragic death of their sister, Carolyn, killed in 1988 by a drink driver when she was 18 and they were at the height of their fame.
Then, in 2014, his mother Carol died of breast cancer aged 67.
He had brought her to his US home to care for her in her final days.
The experience was so traumatic he says he was left suffering from PTSD.
By his own reckoning he became a recluse during this difficult period in his life, only venturing out to work, performing a string of shows in Las Vegas before retreating once more.
When lockdown brought the whole world to a standstill, Matt felt compelled to reconnect with his home country — and he saw Strictly as the perfect way to land himself squarely in the centre of the British public’s consciousness.
He said: “This isn’t just about dance for me, it’s about my life. It’s about moving back from America and moving back to the UK. Strictly will allow me to be more joyful. Not hiding or being reclusive.
“Me and my brother are quite private people, but in a way that’s why I’m doing it.
“Strictly is the definition of public. I could continue to be a reclusive kind of person who would do big shows in America then hide. But I had to get out of that routine.
“Put me in front of a microphone and a million people and I’m good to go. But there’s a discipline to dance that I simply don’t know yet.
I did my homework. I watched the Bros documentary...but it’s difficult to understand how big they were. Even now, Matt can’t get in the car without fans stopping him.
Nadiya Bychkova
“So Strictly is way out of my comfort zone and. If I’m in it long enough, I can come out of my shell even more.”
Matt certainly seems to have struck up a good rapport with Nadiya, so much so that between rehearsals they even discuss the Russian invasion of her homeland, Ukraine.
He said: “It is heartbreaking, and the thing with Nadiya is that she doesn’t play that hand, she’s a classy person.
“But it’s obvious that it’s painful for her. It is her heritage and her DNA.”
The father of Nadiya’s five-year-old daughter Mila is Slovenian footballer Matija Skarabot, 34, who she split from last year.
Nadiya, who was married Russian dancer Sergey Konovaltsev from 2013-2015 and is now dating Strictly pro Kai Widdrington, 27, said: “Knowing that you have family there and what could happen to them tomorrow is tough.
"Unfortunately, with my family, it’s been happening for eight years (the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea).
"That’s when the war started for us. There have been ups and downs and you have to learn to live with that. But now it’s all out there, and obviously the whole world sees what’s happening.
“There is a lot of love and support for Ukraine — I can feel it.
“My daughter is going to Ukrainian Saturday school every week.
“Being here now it feels nice that people know what’s going on and they support us and give help.”
While she has been sharing her dance skills with Matt, he has returned the favour by serenading her daily on the piano in their dance studio.
‘We had so much fun’
She said: “I get to hear a little bit of that every day, lucky me.
“Almost every day it’s like a little warm-up and a break for me to listen to so much talent.
“I really enjoy that moment. It’s a break for him from listening to me and my comments. As much as I enjoy teaching him, I’m really enjoying listening to him sing.”
But mention the curse of Strictly and the pair shut down any speculation that their partnership might extend beyond dancing.
Matt insists he hasn’t even mentioned it to his girlfriend, jewellery designer Chantal Brown.
He said: “There’s really little discussion to have. I hope Nadiya doesn’t mind me speaking for both of us, but the Strictly curse does not concern either one of us.
“We’re here to dance and along the way you’re going to build a friendship and you must have trust in your partner. My partner’s been very, very supportive, as has Kai.”
Nadiya’s romance with Kai is believed to have blossomed towards the end of last year’s series.
She brings the subject of her relationship with Matt to a swift close when she is asked if it is strange to be dating a competitor on the show.
She said: “I think you need to understand that, for us, it has nothing to do with competing between each other. We’re just here as professionals to teach the celebrities something they’ve never done before.”
Moving swiftly on, Matt discusses his first dance with Nadiya last week, a quickstep which got mixed reviews from the judges.
One of my goals of being on Strictly is that the public experience the real me a bit more. I’m actually a lot sillier than people think. I’ll drop my trousers again if we make it to the final.
Matt Goss
Craig Revel Horwood and Motsi Mabuse were broadly positive but Shirley Ballas criticised Matt’s frame and Anton du Beke hardly gushed either.
They each awarded the couple five marks, which gave them a mediocre score of 20 out of 40.
So Matt is hoping for better comments, and better marks, when he takes to the dance floor to perform a samba tonight.
He said: “On that first dance I hit every step, Nadiya would not have given me a high five if I hadn’t. So it was definitely a comedown moment with the judges.
“The critique from Craig and Motsi was really helpful. The other two not so much.
“When they spoke, even the audience went, ‘Oooooh!’ ”
Nadiya also backed Matt, saying: “He executed all the steps right and we had so much fun dancing, which doesn’t happen often, especially not in the first week.
“When you’re a pro you are sometimes holding their hands and helping them, but this time it felt like both of us were performing.
“And having the audience there too, it was beautiful. It was like they were all doing the quickstep with us.”
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Matt adds: “But I understand the judges’ criticism is all part of the show and, if I’m here for another week, it’s all good.
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“I accept we could be going home this weekend — and if that’s our journey then that’s our journey.”
- Strictly continues on BBC1 tonight at 6.30pm.
