Kevin Clifton explains why he won’t partner Stacey Dooley on the Strictly tour

Instead, Dooley will be strutting her stuff with Strictly pro Aljaz Skorjanec, while Clifton is busy playing Stacee Jaxx on the Rock of Ages tour from January until April.

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“Obviously I couldn’t do the tour because of my schedule,” Clifton told RadioTimes.com. “I’d have loved to have done it if I was free.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHLhpRc7vvQ

But what does Clifton think of Dooley being paired up with Aljaz?

“I think Aljaz is probably quite similar to me in terms of what I’m like to work with, neither of us are strict, we both prefer to have fun and encourage as opposed to being disciplinarian,” he said.

“I would really hate it if Stacey was going to someone who was going to scream and shout at her and all that, I’d be really uncomfortable with that actually, but no, I don’t think Aljaz is like that, so she’s in good hands.”

Dooley, meanwhile, is excited to go on tour with Skorjanec – but says she won’t be forgetting Clifton any time soon. “Aljaz is a dream, I’m sure we’ll have an amazing time,” she said. “Kevin is my partner so he’ll always be the guy I’ve learnt everything with, but Aljaz has always been very lovely, we’ve been pally since we began.

“I’ve never worked with Aljaz closely so I don’t know how he works but he’s a good guy so I’m sure it won’t be too stressful.”

Are there any terrible habits of Dooley’s that Skorjanec needs to be warned about before they go on tour together?

“In the first few days of rehearsals she’s going to hate it all and think she can’t do it,” said Clifton. “She’ll fall off the floor, walk off the floor, convince herself that it’s impossible, but you have to just keep reminding her how good she is.”

Strictly Come Dancing continues on Saturday 1st December at 7.05pm on BBC1