Latest news with #ComeDancing
Scottish Sun
28-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
SAS Who Dares Wins star ‘lined up for Strictly Come Dancing after impressing BBC bosses with new show'
A CELEBRITY SAS: Who Dares Wins star could be set to swap his boots for a pair of Strictly Come Dancing ballroom shoes, according to reports. Ashley Cain, 34, is apparently being eyed up by bosses at the Beeb after the success of his own BBC Three show. 7 Ashley Cain is said to be on the radar of Strictly Come Dancing bosses Credit: BBC 7 Reports claim Ashley impressed BBC bosses with his show Ashley Cain: Into The Danger Zone Credit: BBC 7 The star has previously admitted he would love to take part in Strictly Credit: PA Ashley Cain: Into The Danger Zone saw him venture to various places across the world that are particularly "brutal and intense" for young men to live. The star, who appeared on SAS: Who Dares Wins in 2022, has now reportedly landed on the radar of Strictly bosses as a result of his appearances on BBC Three. An insider told The Mirror: "He's a proper character with a very interesting background that looks the part. "He would be a great addition to the Strictly line up. He's presented a couple of shows and has really impressed." The insider said Strictly bosses have a list of 30 celebrity names that they would like to see on the show, which they will whittle down to 15. The Sun has contacted Strictly Come Dancing for comment. Ashley, a former footballer, found fame in the 2014 series of MTV's Ex On The Beach. In October 2020, he and his then-partner Safiyya Vorajee captured the hearts of the nation with the plight of their sick baby Azaylia. Brave Azaylia was diagnosed with a rare form of leukaemia just months into her life and the couple did everything they could to secure the best treatment possible for her. The courageous tot was often seen with a smile on her face beside her doting parents before sadly passing away aged just eight months. My shocking journey inside Europe's most dangerous city where crazed hitman bragged of blowing off HEADS & brazen gang lords run shops with drug menus Last year, Ashley - who has since had two sons with his new partner - reflected on his time with Azaylia and how he would dance with her in the hospital. Ashley told The Sun that he would love to pay tribute to his little girl by competing on Strictly Come Dancing. He told us: "When I had my daughter in hospital, when she was poorly, any time that she used to be feeling poorly or she was going through a chemotherapy, I used to hold her in my arms and I used to dance with her. "And I'd dance with her for hours and hours and hours and hours. So something like Strictly would relate to me in a sense where I would love to do a Lion King-themed dance. "I would love to be able to tell my story on such an amazing platform that could reach out to so many incredible people." Since Azaylia's passing four years ago, Ashley has thrown himself into raising money and awareness for The Azaylia Foundation - which he co-founded with Safiyya and helps support families of children battling cancer. Strictly Come Dancing 2025: Rumoured celebrities so far There is still months to go until the launch of Strictly Come Dancing 2025, but these celebrities' names have already been thrown into the mix: Stacey Solomon has admitted she is "obsessed" with Strictly and would love to take part this year. A Place In The Sun's Craig Rowe would like to take part in Strictly after getting in shape following a health battle. Comedian Jon Richardson is believed to be in talks for Strictly after landing a role in BBC show Waterloo Road. He's taken on record-breaking feats of endurance including kayaking 1,000 miles in the Yukon, Canada, in just 10 days. He also completed a gruelling 3,000mile, 87-day effort that saw him become the first man to run, cycle and kayak from Land's End to John O'Groats back to back. Ashley told us that Strictly would give him the chance to again work hard at something but also remember the happy times with a "smile" on his face. "I would like to represent myself on a show which maybe I could smile and remember the good times and not have to be so serious for once, because that side of me has had to disappear a little bit," he added. "And I think that side of me is the most beautiful side of me when I'm not having to be hard, I'm not having to be tough, but actually I'm feeling love. "I've been smiling and I've been dancing because that's all I used to do with my daughter and that's what I do with my family. And that's what means the most to me." 7 Ashley appeared in the 2022 series of Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins Credit: PA 7 He says he would love to pay tribute to his late daughter Azaylia on Strictly Credit: BBC 7 Ashley would dance in hospital with his poorly daughter during her treatment Credit: Instagram
Washington Post
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
They spent years following the Kinks. Was this their final stop?
This is my street and I'm never gonna leave it. — 'Autumn Almanac,' The Kinks CHICAGO — Marianne Spellman had a plan after graduating high school in 1980. It wasn't college. She would leave Wisconsin and take her Konica FS-1 on the road to follow the Kinks. And for four years, that is exactly what she did, documenting the band led by Ray and Dave Davies as they played 'Lola,' 'Come Dancing' and 'You Really Got Me' to arena crowds.
BBC News
19-02-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
What is it like living next door to Albert Square?
Albert Square is not really in the East End of London, it is actually in Borehamwood in its beginnings, EastEnders has been shot on an outdoor set at BBC Elstree Centre, which is tucked away in the town an outsider the terraced houses complete with satellite dishes could fool you into thinking it is just another residential street, but only when you get close enough do you spot fans camped outside the security gates with umbrellas and what is it like for the people of Borehamwood who, for the last 40 years, could technically call The Queen Vic their local? Phil Mitchell's neighbour A few weeks ago Darren Bloch was washing up when something exploded: "I started panicking. I could see smoke and all that.""I quickly shouted to my wife to call the fire service and she called down to say, 'Oh, no, don't worry, it's EastEnders, They sent a letter around to say it was going to happen'."I was panicked for a bit." The couple live so close to the set that Phil Mitchell's house overlooks their back garden. Mr Bloch said: "From our bedroom you can see the whole set, the tops of the buildings and all the set, so we're right on the set."When we tell our friends where we live they find it's amazing... They've definitely come up to our bedroom and had a good look." The 37-year-old only moved to the area four months ago. He is originally from South Africa where they have never heard of Ian Beale, Dot Branning or Kat Darren lives closer to Walford than anybody else in the world, he has never seen an episode in his life."I've Googled it a few times, just to see if I know any of the faces that I regularly see walking around, nothing so far, I haven't been so lucky."We did watch Strictly [Come Dancing] this year, that was my first reference of an EastEnders actor." Alongside the couple's home is a road that leads into the set, which is blocked off by a large security are often sat on the edge of Darren's driveway hoping for a glimpse of their favourite characters on their way to the local shops."When we first moved in it was something we definitely had to get used to, having so many people just walking and looking over. "You think, 'Are they looking into our property?' and then you realise they're just trying to get a glimpse of the studios."I sometimes see people getting autographs or signatures or something. I just don't know who they are." 'They admire my roses' Somebody who would recognise the cast is Mr Bloch's neighbour and fan of the soap, Pamela 74-year-old, who moved to Borehamwood eight years ago, said: "They are all so friendly and so charming. If I'm out in the front garden they will stop and they chat and they admire my roses."They sometimes film out the front of the house, there was one a few weeks ago with Jack Branning." Behind Ms Waple's garden shed are two houses, part of the soap's set, but through the gap between them you can catch a glimpse of Albert Square itself."We do hear the occasional bang, and shouting and hoorays. At Christmas, we see the decorations when they decorate the square."Christmas goes up about August and there's all snow on the rooftops. It is very odd." In 2022, the show started using a new set after the original one, used since 1984, had deteriorated to the point it was no longer construction, residents were invited for a tour of the £86.7m Waple said: "We could walk around Albert Square which was quite surreal, but the neighbours I went with didn't watch it so it didn't mean much to them, but for me it was bizarre walking around Albert Square." On Thursday there will be a live episode of the soap, broadcast from the set in Waple said: "To think when they do the live performance they're actually going to be there, and I'll be here watching it on my TV - I can get it in stereo."There's a child that lives next door, he cries a lot and screams a lot, I wonder if that interferes with their filming because you do hear them shout 'action'."She added: "I dread to think anything happens to EastEnders. We'd have a housing estate there." Walford High Street If BBC Elstree Centre is the EastEnders equivalent of a Hollywood studio then Borehamwood high street is the walk of anybody in the shops, cafes or pubs at the centre of town and they will probably have a story about meeting or serving the show's Chatt, a cook at Golden Plaice fish and chip shop, said: "Bianca was here a couple of weeks ago, she came twice in the last couple of weeks," he said. "Minty used to come nearly every week.""Phil Mitchell loves his fish and chips. He comes and takes his cod and chips, I saw him a few weeks ago, he's a nice and chatty man... He likes salt and vinegar." Michelle Smith, the manager of Peace Hospice Care, has noticed that things bought in her shop have ended up on screen."We used to be a furniture shop so they bought a lot from us... we've spotted sofas and things," she said."Ten years ago it was a Jubilee or something, they had a big episode with Dot and another lady. I watched it and was like, 'Oh my God, there's all the bits they bought from the shop'." She has lost count of how many cast members have visited the shop over the 22 years she has worked in the area."Max Branning used to run round in his little 80s shorts. You used to see him jogging all the time in his teenie weenies." Karen Whitehouse works in the same shop, and when the show started her son was an extra in one of the first said: "He was just in a carnival scene where the kids are running around."The funny thing is, when people come into Borehamwood to see if they can spot the actors, you do get a lot."Ms Smith added: "We've had to take a few out the back door when they've really been harassed."They're all really lovely people, because they come in so often you see them in the street, and they shout 'all right?'." To mark the soap's 40th birthday, Hertsmere Borough Council presented Chris Clenshaw, the show's executive producer, with a special leader and Chair of Elstree Film Studios, Jeremy Newmark said: "EastEnders has been totemic of the growth in the screen sector here in Hertsmere and proven a trailblazer with its treatment of the important social issues of the day. "It's played a critical role in our national conversations over the past 40 years and we are very proud to have the BBC EastEnders team right here in the heart of our borough." Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
