Although many fans think that the Strictly Come Dancing stars know their new celebrity partner in advance, it is certainly not the case. And back in 2018 while the pros were waiting to find out who they were going to be paired with, Kevin Clifton in particular was nervous. Talking to hosts Amy Elizabeth and Scott Mills on the official Strictly Come Dancing podcast, he said: "I am sick as a dog, honestly. I am always nervous at this stage but I don't know if I have ever been this nervous for some reason." The subject of height then came up as Kevin was joined by fellow pros Pasha Kovalev and Giovanni Pernice. Amy asked them: "This might be a personal question and Kevin touched on it earlier, but height wise, do you look at the females and think 'I don't want a girl that's taller than me?'"
Strictly star Kevin Clifton has previously revealed his nerves at having a taller partner
Giovanni was quick to respond: "For me and Pasha it's more difficult because we are quite tall, so we have more than one person to be partnered with." Kevin intejected: "There are more options." Giovanni continued: "For Kevin it's a little bit easier." "I am looking at probably three of these girls," Kevin agreed. Pasha then reassured Kevin that if he were to get a taller partner it wouldn't be bad. "To be fair in the past I have had girls who are taller than me, Karen Kirkwood - she was slightly taller than me. Your horizon is a little bit wider now," he said. Kevin then joked: "Okay, I look forward to being partnered with Faye or Vick then."
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Kevin and Anneka Rice are getting on well in training
Fans can now listen back to Kevin worrying about his partner knowing that he had nothing to fear. Not only was he partnered with Stacey Dooley - who later became his girlfriend - but the pair went on to win the 2018 series. Having been in the final a number of times before, it meant the world to Kevin to finally take away the famous GlitterBall trophy.
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This year, Kevin is facing a new challenge after being partnered with a taller partner, Anneka Rice, but the pair look like they are having the best of times in rehearsals and the pro has been full of praise for the TV star's dance abilities. Speaking in a short video posted on Anneka's feed, the dancer said to the camera: "Very impressed, very happy." Anneka added: "Kevin is still smiling, I love that so much. Honestly Kevin, that's almost the best day I’ve ever had in my entire life." Kevin, 36, continued to praise the Welsh presenter: "Oh, listen to you, you were brilliant, you were amazing today." On Wednesday, it was revealed that they would be doing the Cha-Cha-Cha.
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