Choreographer Arlene Phillips, known for her raunchy dance routines, is bringing her new show to Hull. She tells Phoebe Jackson-Edwards about life after Strictly Come Dancing - and why life's a ball at 70.
Infamous for her fierce putdowns of flamboyantly dressed celebs, Strictly Come Dancing threw Arlene Phillips back into the limelight.
And the furore that followed when Arlene was unceremoniously dumped from the show proved the public wanted her to stay there.
The media scrum was quick to point out Arlene was scrapped in favour of a younger model, former contestant Alesha Dixon, while the three more mature male judges stayed put.
But at the time, it was a drop in the ocean for Arlene.
"Other things were happening around that time, which dominated," she says.
"I didn't think about it too much. I lost someone very close to me so it was only at the back of my mind."
The day before she got the Strictly news, she discovered her friend and agent, Michael Summerton, had died.
That was four years ago and she says she has put it behind her, even keeping so me ties with the show.
Arlene is known for her choreography but she has many strings to her bow.
She has also produced many shows, including Midnight Tango, which hits Hull New Theatre next week.
The show, starring Strictly's Flavia Cacace and Vincent Simone and co-produced by Adam Spiegel, has even graced the West End.
"It's been a spectacular success since it started," says Arlene, in her husky rasp. "It tells a story without words – there's a comedy element, there's passion and there's a lot of love in there. It's almost a musical."
Flavia and Vincent wanted to showcase their trademark Argentine tango and the Olivier Award-nominated show is now in its third year.
The tango is well known for being a sexy and sensual routine, but Arlene has choreographed her fair share of raunchy routines with 1970s dance troupe Hot Gossip.
Arlene picked pupils from her dance class to form the group, which rapidly became a cult hit.
After a stint at a London nightclub, they were asked on to the Kenny Everett TV show.
At the time, the provocative group courted controversy with female dancers dressed in bras, stockings and suspenders but Arlene maintains this was only for practical purposes: the troupe were all doing odd jobs to keep it going, and one of the male dancers worked in a sex shop, which provided sets of underwear.
Although Arlene says she does gravitate to the more amorous style of dance, it's not all that preoccupies her.
"One side of me goes for passionate, erotic dance but on the other side, I've choreographed the Wizard Of Oz and The Sound Of Music, which is such family viewing," says the mum-of-two.
"I knew I wanted to dance from a young age, I really fell in love with dance when I was younger. At first it was classical ballet, then I expanded into all different sorts of dance and I'm always expanding, really."
She has worked with many icons, from Freddie Mercury to Diana Ross and pinning down a favourite is difficult in her "long and wonderful" career.
But the musical partnership which has endured is with musical theatre royalty, Andrew Lloyd Webber.
"I'm so lucky to have worked with him," she says. "I love Andrew Lloyd Webber."
The pair were recently in Germany together for the country's 25th anniversary of Starlight Express.
"We've completely reshaped the show to bring it into 2013 and hopefully another 25 years," Arlene says.
Of the Strictly issue, she says: "I was in Toronto up until Christmas Eve last year so I missed the series, but I don't actively avoid it. It's not that I don't watch just that. I don't sit down and watch any programmes for an hour or two. I still love the show."
This year has been full of milestones for Arlene.
The Queen presented her with a CBE in February for services to dance and only last month, Arlene turned 70.
She doesn't look like your average pensioner – although she has admitted to a bit of help – but considering her chop from Strictly, she could be forgiven for being concerned about growing older in showbusiness.
"I had the most amazing birthday," she says.
"I've got bagfuls of energy, I'm definitely ready to keep going on.
"I don't feel being 70 has made me think I need to stop soon."
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