It's not long before Kevin Clifton makes his stage debut in theatre production Rock of Ages, but the Strictly Come Dancing pro still made time to go and support his co-stars taking part in the live show. On Saturday night, Kevin cheered on his dancer partner Stacey Dooley and the rest of the gang as they took to the stage for the second day of the tour. Kevin travelled to Birmingham and had fun catching up with his friends backstage too. Janette Manrara shared a photo on Instagram Stories of Kevin hanging out with pros Giovanni Pernice and Aljaz Skorjanec – who has replaced him as Stacey's dance partner for the tour.
Kevin Clifton and Stacey Dooley went on to win Strictly
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In December, Kevin told the Radio Times he was really happy with Aljaz as a replacement for Stacey, saying they are quite similar in their teaching style. "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. The pro dancer also admitted he was disappointed that he wouldn’t be taking part in the show. After Stacey shared a photo of herself and Aljaz on Instagram, Kevin commented on it with a series of sad faces.
Kevin Clifton went to watch his Strictly partner on stage
The star will instead be playing protagonist Stacee Jaxx in the hit musical, with the show commencing on 22 January in Glasgow. Kevin has been taking his new role very seriously, and has even had an extra singing lesson after struggling with a particular note in one of the show's songs. Last weekend, Kevin shared a video of himself and his voice coach Lucy, who he thanked for helping him massively. He has also shared photos of himself practicing his lines, and a preview photo of him dressed in character - where he rocks a long black wig.
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While Kevin is a familiar face on Strictly, he recently revealed that he was rejected from the show in his first audition as he used to be a goth. During an appearance on This Morning, Kevin said: "I was a goth. I've always been a massive rock and roll fan and I used to dress like that fancying myself as a bit of a wannabe rock star and the first time I auditioned for Strictly Come Dancing I looked like that, I got an absolute no. We've got no need for some sort of emo kid on Strictly Come Dancing!" The 36-year-old admitted that he changed his look afterwards, telling Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby: "I realised that I was never going to be a rock star and me dressing like that walking down the streets of Grimsby looked a bit silly!"
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