A former Strictly Come Dancing professional star looked a bit different when he made a cameo on an anniversary special this week, two decades on from him having won the show. Professional dancer Darren Bennett, now 47, worked on the BBC show from 2004 to 2009. He made his debut in the second series and was partnered with actor Jill Halfpenny, now 49. They ended up being named that year's winners.
They were among the couples mentioned in Strictly's 20th anniversary special, which aired on Saturday. Their jive to Elton John's I'm Still Standing from the final in December 2004 - which was the first routine to ever receive a score of 40 from the judging panel - was discussed in a segment.
The commentators included Darren, who was interviewed alongside his wife Lilia Kopylova, 46, who is herself a former pro from the show. No longer clean-shaven and sporting a shaved head, Darren said that Jill had wanted him to perform at his "full power" for the performance in the final.
Darren recalled: "She once said to me 'are you dancing at, like, maximum?' I'm like 'no, no, I'm sort of at like 50 per cent'. She said 'no, no, I want to be able to experience what it's like to dance at full power with a professional dancer'.". Jill also discussed the routine in the special, alongside former judges from the long-running show. Reflecting on the routine, she said: "It was really nerve-racking because it's fast [and] there's a huge amount of steps in it.".
Arlene Phillips - who was a judge from 2004 to 2008 - praised Jill, with her saying in the interview: "She was the closest thing to a professional that we'd ever seen." Whilst her former colleague Bruno Tonioli - who was himself a judge from 2004 to 2019 - said: "Since then, we always call it 'that jive,' because it was so good and it was so memorable.".
