Strictly Come Dancing – Show Calls For Figaro
Words & Pictures Kevin Fagan
A couple of weeks ago I received an email from the BBC asking if we could supply a Figaro for the new series of Strictly Come Dancing? As Sue is such a big fan it didn’t take long to say yes!
“I want this car” Amy Dowden fell in love with Belle after driving her for only 10 minutes.
A phone call later and everything was set in motion for us to deliver the car to an address in London.
The idea was that the dancers were to be filmed driving a number of different cars (some classic and some sporty) with Go-pro cameras inside the cars filming them singing karaoke. A camera car and fixed cameras located at a roundabout would capture them looking for the rehearsal studios.
We arrived at a large gated compound where some of the rehearsals are shot for the show and felt like VIP’s as the security man on the gate was quickly told to let us in.
Parking up we quickly got mobbed by a bunch of TV people who just loved our car. The shows producer appeared and I asked if they wanted the roof kept up or shall I drop it? “Keep it up, it will be better for the sound” he said. I gave Belle a polish and it was quickly descended on by a team of sound engineers fitting microphones in the trim and more equipment in the top boot. Then it was the turn of the video team and fitting 3 x Go-Pro Cameras. All were wirelessly linked to the camera car which contained the producer so he could see the actual shots live whilst on location.
Club founder Kevin Fagan (left) with dancer Anton Du Beke
We could tell that we were soon to be in the company of celebrities as the paparazzi appeared climbing up the gates with their telephoto lenses. Within minutes the doors swung open and David James, Mike Bushel and Emma Barton appeared, closely followed by Anton Du Beke who was asked to drive the sporty Lotus Evora GT410 along with passanger Nancy Xu.
After an hour it was our turn and dancers Amy Dowden, Dianne Buswell, Katya Jones and Lubla Mushtuk appeared all excited when they twigged the car they had been allocated.
It was agreed that Amy would drive and after a quick run through from me on how to drive a Figaro (which took all of 30 seconds) they piled in. We managed to get two girls in the back at a squeeze but the producer wanted this to add to the fun.
I jumped into the camera car just in case their was a problem whilst out on the road. 10 minutes later we were back and ‘it’s a wrap’ as they say in the film industry.
Asking what they thought, they all loved the Belle and Amy said “I want this car”.
The show is due to be broadcast on Saturday 7th September 2019.
