Steve Jones & Alex Jones ('Let's Dance')
Published Feb 18 2011, 09:00 GMT | By Catriona Wightman
© BBC
In past years there has been a standout performer, like Robert Webb or Rufus Hound. Who do you think it will be this year?
Steve: "There are so many this year. This is the first time that people have approached us and asked us, 'Can I come on the show please?' So the result is that we've got some pretty high-end names. Noel Fielding, Katie Price. Russell Kane's coming along."
Alex: "Ed Byrne - he'll be really good, I think. And Lulu's on it, so she's going to be pretty amazing. I hope Penny Smith does really well. I've got a real soft spot for her so I hope she does really well."
Steve: "She came along last year. She wasn't on the show, but she came for a night. She's lovely. I had the biggest crush on her ever when I was a kid. I used to get up early in the morning, go downstairs, switch the TV on and just watch her. I was obsessed with her."
Alex: "Penny Smith? Right, OK..."
Quite a few people were surprised to hear about Noel Fielding signing up for the show...
Steve: "When I told my family they were all like, 'Noel Fielding?!' I was like, 'Go easy, the show's worthy of a Noel Fielding, thank you very much!' But I kind of know what you mean, it's kind of a big deal. But this is Noel's remit. He's an alternative comedian, and what's more alternative than this show? It's ridiculous. I know Noel and I don't think he'll mind me saying he is ridiculous. He loves anything which is outrageous."
Alex: "I think anything under the Comic Relief banner does attract any level of celebrity. There's nobody too big to get involved. It's one charity that everybody really wants to be part of so I don't think it's that surprising that there's great names on it."
Can you tell us anything about this year's routines?
Alex: "I don't think we're allowed!"
Steve: "I wouldn't want to because I really like the surprise on the night. It's nice to know who's going to be on it, but you want people to be entertained there and then in the moment rather than, 'Oh that's what they're going to do'."
Well, will we be seeing any big surprises?
Steve: "Definitely."
Alex: "Huge surprises, I'd say. Definitely Katie Price!"
Steve: "I like her routine. I'll go as far as to say her routine is kind of a statement piece. She's making a statement. I'm so chuffed she's coming on the show - she's iconic."
Do you think we should expect some cringeworthy performances?
Steve: "I'll be disappointed if nobody's cringeworthy!"
Alex: "I think cringeworthy is good in a show like this. You don't want everybody to be brilliant because half the fun is laughing at them. I think they go into it knowing that... They are really brave to do it as well. Obviously some of them have put a lot more effort in and a lot more work into it but I think just to get onto that stage and put yourself out there for people to be entertained - whether they're laughing or generally thinking you're amazing - it's pretty big of them to do it."
Steve: "God yeah, they've got some guts. And that's kind of what the show's about. It's irreverent but at the same time it's not mean spirited. We appreciate the time and effort everybody's put in to go up there and make fools of themselves!"
When did the rehearsals start?
Steve: "The competition element has been amped this year because everybody's started rehearsals way beforehand. The rehearsals have started way earlier than ever before, because a lot of the dances are quite bold. Adrian Edmondson is one - his is just bonkers."
Alex: "Yeah, he's got something pretty complicated!"
Steve: "It will either be amazing, or the worst thing ever to be on TV."
Alex: "It could go either way."
Steve: "Which is the magic of Let's Dance!"
Are you planning to go along to the rehearsals?
Alex: "I think it's probably better for us to see it with fresh eyes because you react like the audience would at home. And to give them a chance to sort themselves out, in fairness! You don't want to be in there straight away because they're nervous."
Steve: "They are terrified. It's a testament to the show that even when it's rehearsals it's packed in there. Cameramen normally can be a bit curmudgeonly but even they are like, 'This is insane!' Everything stops because they want to come in and watch. That's why it's such a successful show. You just can't look away when it's happening, you have to watch it."
Would you ever participate in a dancing show?
Steve: "We're better off as presenters I think!"
Alex: "They did ask the question months ago, whether I would consider doing this, and I just couldn't. I've got the most respect for the people who are doing it. I think they're incredibly brave. I just could not. I'd be physically sick, I think."
There were rumours recently linking you to Strictly, Alex...
Alex: "Yeah, that's the rumour, isn't it? I don't know any more than you do about that, honestly. But no, I would be physically sick. I get a little bit nervous doing live telly but doing that... oh my God. No!"
Steve: "If I was going to do something it would be more likely to be this, where there's a charitable element to it. Something like Strictly, which I've been asked to do before, I wouldn't do because quite simply I'm a professional presenter. I wouldn't have time because I'm presenting shows when it's on. If I was ever to do that show, it would be presenting it."
Alex: "I think the audience watching this and everybody involved are more lenient on the people on it, because it's for such a great cause. This would be an easier show to do, I think, than something like Strictly which is properly competitive."
Do you think being funny is more important than being a great dancer on this show?
Steve: "I think so, but then look at Robert Webb, who was funny and a brilliant dancer. There were little comic elements in it but he really went for it. I think sometimes that's when it's at its most funny - when the person gets 100% committed to it and treats it like it's really happening - 'I'm in Flashdance'."
Alex: "And Katy Brand, she was amazing. She looked properly sexy as Beyoncé. I suppose it's a chance for these people to live out some kind of fantasy."
Steve: "You knew that Robert Webb had been doing that for years."
Alex: "In his bedroom practising!"
Steve: "When he'd been told there was a show called Let's Dance, he thought, 'My time has come!' You just know that!"
Why should people tune in to Let's Dance?
Steve: "It's an important show. If you like being entertained and you like saving people's lives - I know that sounds dramatic but it's exactly what we're talking about. Alex has been to Zambia, I've been to Uganda. I've seen the devastation that malaria and AIDS and HIV has caused in these countries. So if you want to be entertained and you want to save someone's life, tune in!"
Can you tell us about your trips?
Alex: "You think you know what you're going to experience. We've all seen these films on Comic Relief, but when you get there nothing can prepare you for what you see. It's really hard to believe even though you're seeing that people actually are living like that."
Steve: "It doesn't even feel like you're on Earth. It's like a different planet. I saw a father digging his dead daughter's grave with his hands. And then there's his three kids with him... It's hard to comprehend, it really is."
Alex: "You feel tremendous sadness but also frustration that those situations do exist, and that's those people's lives day to day. It's a million miles from here. It's hard to adapt when you come back - every time you eat something you're like, 'Oh God'. You know when your parents said, 'You'd better eat all that because children in Africa are starving'? That line never made any sense to me until I went there... It's a massive privilege that we can actually make a difference and help people understand the situation that these people are facing."
Let's Dance For Comic Relief begins on Saturday at 7pm on BBC One.
