“I Was Crying In The Shower!” | We're Talking Strictly Come Dancing

We Need To Talk with Paul C. Brunson

FlightStory

Relationships, Society & Culture, Leisure

4.7 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 18 September 2025

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Three Strictly legends pull back the glittery curtain on the UK’s biggest dance show. Oti Mabuse opens up about breaking down in the shower during the show’s most intense moments, and the pressure she felt to represent Black women in the spotlight. Karen Hauer reflects on dancing with her ex Kevin Clifton after their breakup - and gives an honest take on the “Strictly Curse” - why emotional connections form, and how it changes relationships forever. Ashley Roberts shares how appearing on Strictly became a tribute to her late father, and why dance remains deeply personal for her. These are the stories behind the sparkle - raw, real, and rarely told. We're Talking Strictly! (00:00) Intro(00:38) Oti breaks down the ‘Strictly Curse’(05:31) Karen’s take on the ‘Strictly Curse’(15:30) What is something the audience don’t know about Strictly?(17:52) Love Better Tour Ad(18:49) How intense is being on the show?(21:40) Being on the show whilst going through the break-up of her marriage(24:47) How was it for Ashley returning to dance on Strictly?(26:34) Ashley’s favourite dance on the show Get Your Tickets to the Love Better Tour: https://bit.ly/lovebetter-YT Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to We're Talking, where we're exploring the world of Ballroom.
0:05.0	It's that time of year again where Strictly takes over our screens.
0:09.2	And in honor of all the shimmies and the one-two steps, we've brought you the stories of three strictly mainstays.
0:15.8	Karen Hauer, Otie Mabuse, and Ashley Roberts.
0:19.4	If you enjoy these conversations
0:21.0	and want to keep in the loop about new episodes,
0:23.9	make sure to follow the show.
0:25.7	Without further ado, we're talking strictly. Everyone talks about the strictly curse.
0:44.3	Yeah.
0:45.5	What is the strictly curse?
0:47.6	So usually it happens when I think people come together and they spend a lot of time together and they just end up
0:56.7	having a relationship. But over the years it has definitely redefined what that looks like. And I think
1:04.1	people don't even bring it up anymore in a negative connotation because we have couples like Gemma and Gorka who now are married
1:16.4	and they have two kids and they have a happy life together. We have Aliyah and Jeanette who are a couple.
1:21.8	He left the show and now he's back together and they portray what a family couple is on strictly Diane and Joe.
1:30.7	It's when two strangers come together in the room and have a relationship.
1:34.8	But it's over the years, in my opinion, it has definitely redefined itself.
1:40.6	Yeah, I think the examples of what you did, that's not really the curse.
1:44.4	The curse is when you end up another relationship.
1:47.2	Yeah.
1:47.7	You start a new one, which is not very positive.
1:51.3	I think it's a little bit more goes to the roots of that problem, which is if you're not
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