Hi everyone!

Finally... isn't it wonderful to see that Spring has sprung, with some colourful flowers, bright and sunny days, and the beginning of longer evenings! (I must admit I am not a lover of cold winters!)

The Tour

Sadly the tour of 'Puttin' on the Ritz' has come to an end. This year we travelled from Dundee to Plymouth via Ireland with thirty-nine shows in twenty-three cities all in eight weeks.

It has been a fantastic show and exciting that I got to sing this time. If you managed to get to one of the shows thank you for your magnificent support!! It was also a pleasure to meet so many of you after the performances, outside some very chilly and dark stage doors. It is rewarding to have you come and enjoy the show and be such wonderful audiences.

For your delectation I have added some of my favourite photos taken over the eight weeks; I have also added a few links to reviews of the show.

We had some great moments on the tour, here are a few to remind you (if you were there) and if you weren't, you can have a giggle anyway:

• When we were performing at Nottingham, someone was eating a box of sweets in the second row and Anton asked if he could have one, so she handed us her box of Roses, which Anton took, tipped them out on stage (so he could find his favourite) and then proceeded to throw the remainder into the audience! I bet she won't offer her sweets to Anton again!!!
• We were just saying hello to the audience after the first dance in Basingstoke when a couple of late arrivals ambled in to take their seats. Anton did his usual "you're late" routine when suddenly I noticed it was my husband and friends!! Oops!! Anton had a lot of fun taking the mickey out of Peter for the rest of the evening.
• Whilst driving to the next venue after one of our shows, at about 1am in the morning, we decided to pull over for a coffee. I still had my stage makeup on and false eyelashes, though more concerning, Anton still had foundation on his face! Well, as we walked into the motorway services we realised there were about 30 butch rugby players also queuing for refreshments. The look on Anton's face was a picture, convinced he was going to get the rib taken… and to our surprise, all of a sudden we were surrounded by the team asking for photos — they were big Strictly fans!! It just goes to show even big beefy rugby players enjoy Strictly!
• Having booked a ticket with 'the world's favourite airline' to come back from Dublin, we turned up around 7.30am expecting to waltz onto our flight, when we were greeted by check-in staff announcing that the flight was full!!! I thought when you booked a ticket you were guaranteed a seat... well apparently not. Anyway, after a little gentle negotiation with the airline staff (Anton threatened to kill someone!!!) we managed to get on the flight, but if the poor soul who gave up their seat for us is reading this — Thank You!
• When the tour ended I was unpacking my cases and noticed that somehow, I had accumulated 25 bags of Minstrels and Counters — now this is surprising because as you know I don't even eat chocolate ;-) !!! By the time I have eaten them all I will be looking like Miss Piggy! Thanks to everyone who supplied me along the way and contributed to my coronary!! I only finished the tour a couple of weeks ago and I've been at the gym every day to try and get rid of the Minstrel fat!

I would like to give a special thank you to Raymond Gubbay, our tour promoter; the fine musicians in the London, Manchester, Scottish and Welsh Concert Orchestras, with their conductor, Richard Balcombe; our lovely singer Lance Ellington from Strictly; and our accompanying dancers, Francine Cornwell, Lisa Dent, Ben Campbell and Tom Goodall. Finally, a big thank you to my wonderful dance partner Anton du Beke… because let's face it guys, without him I would be dancing on my own and that would just look silly!!! Plus he keeps my on my toes every night and makes me laugh with his funny stories — he also lets me speak now and again!!

Reviews:
South Wales Argus • Bournemouth Echo • This Is Leicestershire

TRIC Awards and Children's Champions Awards

I went to the TRIC (Television and Radio Industries Club) awards this month. I sat on a table with a bunch of the Strictly people including Felicity Kendall, Brendan, Tess, James, Ola, Anton, Tina O'Brien and a couple of Strictly Execs. and I am pleased to announce that Strictly won the award for Best TV Reality Programme for the 7th Year running!! I even met Peter André, who came over to our table (and to be honest with you he is a lot smaller than I thought he'd be!!).

I also had the pleasure of attending the Children's Champions Awards in London and I must say it was one of the most worthy awards I have ever been to. Congratulations to all winners on the night. Next time I must remember to take a tissue with me.

My Monday Dance Classes

Just to let you know my classes are still running - I even managed to run all my classes whilst performing on the tour (beginners 7:30, improvers 8:45).

Miss Scotland 2011

Anton and I are thrilled to have been invited to host Miss Scotland in June 2011. It will be held in Glasgow and I am going to have to keep an eye on Anton with all those beautiful women around!!

We are quite excited, as the ten finalists will have to learn a ballroom dance routine to perform for the judges and, yes, you guessed it... we will be teaching them! Let's hope that they don't fall off their high heels!!

Christchurch, New Zealand Earthquake

It was so kind and thoughtful of some of you to enquire about my family in NZ. They are all well and safe in the North Island. My heart goes out to all that have suffered and I am glad to say that Brendan Cole's family, who are in Christchurch, are also safe.

Dressing up for Party Time

If you are interested in turning up at a party in a fancy dress designed by me you can go to Fun-Shack and click on the 'Anton & Erin' picture box. There are a number of costumes from the 'Steppin' Out' show. More designs will be coming soon! (Please note though that these are fancy dress costumes and not the real thing!!!!!)

Until next time, lots of love,

Erin X

Hi everyone!

I have been a little busy the last few months, sorry for not blogging sooner!

I wanted you to know I have been thinking of you all, and that I try my best to keep you updated through my 'tweets'. If you aren't already following me please follow me either through the website or Twitter so I can keep you in step with where I am, what I am up to, and what's new!

Strictly Speaking

As Strictly series 8 is now over I'll keep the round-up brief.  I thought this year was one of the best ever, particularly with changes to the format, a great new set and also allowing us the professionals to be slightly more 'adventurous' with the routines - I thought it was great! And just to remind you, I've added a couple of pictures below.

Even though I was eliminated early (week 4) I had a wonderful time with Peter Shilton and was so pleased to have the opportunity to dance with a true football legend. Thank you Peter!

Christmas Special

I also had the great pleasure of performing on last year's Christmas special with Vince Cable the Business Secretary and Twickenham MP. I had heard about his love of dancing as it has been well publicised: he's been social dancing for many years and he told me that it gives him a great release from his busy lifestyle, and that he thoroughly enjoys it. When a man takes hold of you, you want to feel relaxed and don't want to worry that he'll step on your feet: I needn't have worried on that score with Vince, I was confident in his arms from the start.

I told him, "I do want you to have fun, but I also want you to go out there and be competitive!"

The most important thing for me was that I wanted him to be really proud of his performance. I only had seven, one-hour training sessions to teach Vince the Foxtrot, before taking to the dance floor to impress the judges. Although he was a little nervous at first he quickly found his feet and it was great fun from start to finish... and we finished runners-up in the celebrity 2010 Christmas Special!

On the Road with 'Puttin' On The Ritz'

I am now on the road again and living out of a suitcase – well – not just one suitcase, we actually have to take two cars to carry all of our outfits! Anton and I are currently taking our new show across the UK and Ireland, and so far we've performed in theatres in Northampton, London, Leicester, Liverpool, Sheffield and Stoke on Trent. While you are reading this we will probably be in Belfast or Dublin and approaching the end of the third week of our 8-week tour.

The show is very hard work, and physically and mentally tiring but we both love it. We are joined on stage by four talented dancers, and this year our fabulous singer is Lance Ellington from the Strictly Come Dancing band. Our very large live orchestra plays a range of music by such greats as Leonard Bernstein and Cole Porter - it’s a fast show and we have some breathtaking numbers.

As a special treat this year I have added a little song and dance routine to the ensemble… yes you read it correctly, I am singing! Who would've thought it! It’s not as daunting as one would expect, actually I really enjoy it.

Click the image above to download the full list of tour dates and venues for 'Puttin’ on the Ritz, and if you haven’t already got tickets you can book them at Raymond Gubbay's website.

Monday Dance Classes

I have resumed my dance classes at Kingston Dance Studio every Monday between 7.30 and 10pm. If you've got the dancing bug, or just want to give it a go, come down and join in. We have beginners and intermediate lessons so all abilities are welcome – and everyone is very friendly. Beginners start at 7.30 and improvers at 8.45, no need to bring a partner, just come along and have fun.

Ok, I promise I won't leave it so long next time before updating my blog, but in the mean time don’t forget to follow me on twitter. For now I will leave you with one of my very favourite moments from Strictly 2010.

Lots of love,

Erin X
P.S. Please feel free to add your comments, as I often come on and read them all!

A Big Catch Up...

First of all I would like to say how sorry I am for not posting a blog for so long; as you can imagine things have been a little hectic over the last few weeks!

So I will start from the beginning...

The launch show went out with a big bang, there was the red carpet, a big new shiny set, lots of professional show numbers and of course the dazzling costumes. I myself had 3 costume changes for the one show!

You have to believe me when I say this; we did not know who our new partner would be until the announcement that you all saw on the launch show. I have read many comments that you though we must have known, due to the last dance where we ended up next to our partners at the end. What you didn’t know is that the professionals practised that dance with SEVEN different endings - one for each celebrity!

During the launch show it was announced that I was dancing with the Goalkeeping legend Peter Shilton, which I must say, at the time, was a big surprise to me because I didn't think they'd give me my sixth sportsman and second Goalkeeper out of eight series!

Don’t get me wrong, I am not complaining at all, as sportsmen know how to train really hard and are very competitive.

Straight after the launch I found out I was dancing the Waltz in the first week and had two and a half weeks to try and get him up to scratch.  Peter lives in Coventry, so hence I spend a lot of time trekking up and down the Motorways. The first few days were tough but Peter soon got to grips with what he had to do which was - basic technique, good frame and dancing to the music... no easy task for a complete beginner.

As the days counted down Peter was getting better and better, he was feeling confident and so was I... until the day before the big show when we went for a short rehearsal on the Strictly set at the BBC studios.  What happened next I hadn’t experienced since series 2 with Julian Clary - Peter’s nerves kicked in with the reality of what was about to happen and all the steps disappeared from his mind!!  I tried to reassure Peter that this sometimes happens and not to be too hard on himself - it would all come right on the night. Well, that’s what I thought. I have to say I didn’t sleep well that night with the worry of what might happen in 24 hours live in front of 10 million people if Peter did in fact forget ALL his steps!!

The morning of the live show finally arrived, make-up and hair started at 9 o’clock and that was just Peter... just kidding, yes we do get there early, it can take a while to make us girls look pretty. After make-up and hair, we have band call, which is when we hear our music played by the live band for the very first time. Straight after it’s into costume, a quick powder and straight into the dress run. This is when we practise running the show as live to make sure hopefully everything runs smoothly before the actual live show!  If we have any spare time, we have a quick snack, then more make-up, more hair spray and then move onto the stairs behind the set - ready for the walk down as the show goes live.

We hear the title music start, the audience are roaring and Bruce and Tess go on; I straighten Peter’s tie, hold his hand, give him a smile before walking down the stairs for the very first time live. I am feeling very excited as the new series begins. 

Peter and I wait patiently for our turn to dance (we were second). Thankfully we don’t have to wait too long because the longer we wait, the more nervous Peter would become!  As the VT shows for our rehearsals, Peter and I walk down to take our place on the floor; our names are announced and the crowd are so loud that I am worried that we won’t be able to hear the start of our music!!

Throughout our dance I could feel Peter’s nerves - in fact I'm sure I could hear his heart beating, it was beating so hard. But he manages to get through and I am very proud of him for finishing his routine to a respectable standard for the first week.

The judges were very gentle and fair with their comments and awarded Peter 21 points but were very aware that he was nervous throughout his dance.

Peter felt relieved to have finished the Waltz, but before he could relax it was straight into training on the Sunday morning at 10 o’clock to start work on the Salsa. We had to loosen those hips and make him feel confident and create a party atmosphere on the dance floor. Peter has been working really hard over the last few days getting his Salsa ready, losing his inhibitions, wriggling those hips and feeling a lot more confident. I am really hoping that this Saturday he feels a lot more relaxed, now he knows what to expect, and hopefully he can now enjoy the experience a lot more.

We look forward to performing our Salsa for you - fingers crossed - without any hitches on Saturday night. 

Inbetween all the rehearsals and driving up and down the motorway I managed to fit in a photo-shoot where you will probably see more of me than ever before!!! Watch this space for more updates...

Lots of love,

Erin
P.S. Don’t forget to vote, we need it! 

Ok, the time has finally come... this is it... there is no going back now!!! Within hours I am going to find out who my new celebrity partner is for series 8 of Strictly Come Dancing. 

As of last Sunday I met all the celebrities in this year's show, and over the last few days we have all spent many hours in the studio rehearsing for the launch show which we film on Wednesday 8th September 2010. Over this time I have studied all the celebrities very closely and have come to the conclusion that if Pierce Brosnan isn’t available I will have to make do with Brad Pitt... Just kidding, but I promise you there are some wonderful personalities in this year's line-up.

Whilst applying my fake tan today I have noticed many bruises covering my body and have concluded that Flavia is a secret agent working for the enemy and is trying to bump me off... she got me good with an elbow in the arm, I had a dead arm for hours!!!! Someone else has been kicking me in the ankles and trying to disable me and I fear it was Ola or Kristina trying to eliminate me before the competition even starts... I do like a bit of competition but this is playing slightly dirty!!!!

On a more serious note I am hoping for a great partner with lots of personality; hopefully without two left feet so he can perform great moves for everyone to enjoy and vote for.

I promise you I will keep you informed on my progress over the next few days.  So remember... Keeeeeeeeeeep reeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaading!

Love Erin xx

Hello everybody,

Hope you are enjoying my new website; thank you all for your wonderful messages that I have received via the website, twitter and emails - I do read them all, so keep them coming!

I would like to thank Scott & David at Bungalow Industries for all the hard work and long hours they put in to get the site up and running - I think they now know more about me than I do!!!!

Can you believe Strictly is about to start again?!?! Didn’t the year fly by? But I have managed to cram an awful lot of excitement into the last 8 months - I even went to Buckingham Palace and met Princess Anne!!

Strictly started for me 2 weeks ago with all the professionals putting together great show-dance numbers which we know you will all love. It is great to be back with the strictly crew......

I am very excited about meeting my new celebrity partner in a couple of weeks time. Did you know there will be a launch show on 11th September BBC1 full of exciting group numbers and of course us meeting our new partners?

This year I have decided I would really like to dance with Pierce Brosnan not to be confused with Morgan!!!!!!!  If he is not available I will settle for Brad Pitt.... not holding my breath though!!

Ok that’s all for today, I will keep the blogs coming whenever I get a minute spare.

Love,

Erin

Well hello everybody, and welcome to my new website!  I'm very excited to announce its launch and hats off to Bungalow Industries for capturing something very special and compelling for you all to enjoy - a great result as I'm sure you'll agree!

I hope you enjoy getting the scoop in my Up Close and Personal interview, learning more about my career, looking through my photos and reliving some of those fabulous Strictly moments in the YouTube gallery. You can even ask me a question of your own in the Ask Erin section, see the start of my collection of goodies in the Boutique, and don't forget to look through our upcoming tour dates too!

I've got a very busy time ahead over the coming months with the start of Strictly Series 8, and I'm delighted to now have a blog all of my own to keep you up to date with life in Erin's world!!!  Watch this space!

And make sure you sign up to my news and updates using the form on the right, and follow me on Twitter too to keep on track with my updates, whereabouts and backstage buzz!

Hope to see you in an audience soon,
With love, 
Erin
X

PS Please let me know what you think of my new site, you can add comments to this post below - I hope you love it as much as I do!