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25
Feb
Strictly’s Nadiya Bychkova: ‘I’m that lucky girl who loved dancing and got where she wanted to be’
“I just fell in love with dancing, and the only way to do dancing, like Latin and ballroom especially, is to compete”, Nadiya Bychkova says – and compete she did.
Nadiya, who features on our TV screens every Saturday night for 13 weeks a year, has starred in Strictly Come Dancing for eight years.
But, having never won the show, people may not know how decorated a dancer she really is. The Ukrainian-born professional holds a number of major titles: she is a multi-time world champion – winning her first when she was just 12 years old - a European champion in ballroom and Latin, and told the Stray Ferret she doesn’t know how many national titles she holds but “there are quite a lot”.
Ahead of her Harrogate show on Thursday (February 27), the Stray Ferret spoke to Nadiya about her life and what led her to land a job on arguably Britain's biggest television show.
I started dancing when I was five years old in Luhansk. It’s been a lot of moving since then, I left my hometown for the first time when I was 10. I went further when I was 12 and then moved countries when I was 14.
This is something I always wanted to do – I never stopped dreaming until I achieved it.
The Stray Ferret asked Nadiya what she believes got her to where she is now. The 35-year-old said:
I wasn’t dancing because I wanted to be the best in the world, I was dancing because I loved it so much. It is tough, though, it is a lot of struggles, and it’s not kind to you all the time. Unless you have that passion for dancing – or anything you do – it’s difficult to overcome the struggles.
Nadiya Bychkova and Nikita Kuzmin. Credit: BBC Pictures/Guy Levy
The passion may have been Nadiya’s primary source of motivation, but she cited her parents as a close second.
Growing up in Ukraine and Slovenia, Nadiya told the Stray Ferret her parents did not want her to lose focus on her academic endeavours.
“I remember I always had to be really good in school to make sure I could dance”, she says, adding she wasn’t allowed to get a poor result in an exam.
Nadiya described striking a balance between the two as tough, adding:
When the competitions started, it was a lot, the travelling and everything. At one point, I think I was around eight years old, my mum and dad kind of told me I needed to focus more on school.
But my parents really supported me and nothing stopped me from a young age. The only thing I wanted was to dance, so I trained a lot and rehearsed, which got me to where I am now.
Nadiya said Latin and ballroom dance were her first “big loves”, but she embraced a “modern, fresh side of Latin and ballroom” as she grew up.
Nadiya has also done a lot of modelling work – even featuring on a Playboy cover – but nothing could surpass her love of dancing.
She told the Stray Ferret:
Any modelling I’ve done was just because I needed to work – I needed money to pay for my dance lessons and my travels. I did enjoy it, though, everything I do in my life I enjoy.
Dancing is that first and most important love.
Nadiya Bychkova and the Strictly Come Dancing professional dancers. Credit: BBC Pictures/Kieron McCarron
Strictly Come Dancing
Nadiya joined BBC One’s Strictly Come Dancing in 2017.
The professionals and celebrity contestants spend hours training each week, aiming to polish every step before performing in front of millions of people and the esteemed judging panel.
But Nadiya spent the first few years of her Strictly career living between the UK and Slovenia. She said:
I was approached in 2016, but I was pregnant with my daughter, Mila, and I had to say no. The only thing I wanted was to be a mum, so that was absolutely OK.
Then, in 2017, they gave me a call and asked me again. I was like: ‘this opportunity doesn’t really come around twice’. I had great support from my family, so we decided to go and see if I liked it. Look at me now, eight years in.
Now, I live in London.
Nadiya Bychkova and recent dance partner Tom Dean. Credit: BBC Pictures/Guy Levy
Nadiya has had a number of celebrity partners during her Strictly career. Most recently, she was paired with Olympic gold-medallist, Tom Dean, but the pair were voted off in the first week.
The Stray Ferret asked Nadiya who her favourite partner has been so far. She said:
They’ve all been great, but Davood Ghadami, who was the first one. He’ll hold a special place in my heart and my Strictly career.
Dan Walker was probably one of the best I had on Strictly and we’re still really good friends. Strictly is amazing – it’s a great programme – but it’s even more special when you make a friend for life.
Nadiya told the Stray Ferret she couldn’t choose a dream celebrity partner, but said she’d like someone with “great moves and great rhythm – someone like Usher”.
She added:
Strictly is quite a unique programme. For someone who has never danced before, it’s very scary. We are there to hold their hands and build a great friendship. I’d like to be partnered with someone who loves the show – that’s really important to me.
A Special Evening with Nadiya Bychkova kicked off last week and is coming to Harrogate on Thursday.
Although Nadiya said she has never been to Harrogate, she told the Stray Ferret she lived in Sheffield for a short while.
“I love Yorkshire – I look forward to being there”, she said.
People can look forward to an evening of dancing, as well as stories about Nadiya's life and her career.
Nadiya will perform at the Crowne Plaza in Harrogate on February 27.
You can find tickets here.
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