It’s clear life is already a whirlwind of photo shoots, interviews, and – of course – dance training for former England rugby star Chris Robshaw, who manages to squeeze in a phone call to us while in the car. The 39 year old is ready, if a little nervous, to strap on his dancing shoes as he embarks on the intense journey of taking part in the 23rd series of Strictly Come Dancing.
‘They’ve given me these Cuban heels to dance in,’ Chris tells us, laughing nervously, seemingly only just coming to the realisation that he is about to be covered head-to-toe in glitter and wearing tight trousers in front of millions every weekend! Supporting him on his journey will be his wife Camilla, and sons Wilding, four, and Hunter, one, as well as his professional partner Nadiya Bychkova teaching him the all-important routines.
So, having swapped the rowdy rugby scrums for a graceful Viennese Waltz, Chris chats to us about, stepping out of his comfort zone, and trying to convince the producers to let him dance to K-pop…
Chris, was saying ‘yes’ Strictly a no-brainer?
Yes – it’s all about me very much coming out of my comfort zone and wanting to do something that actually puts a bit of fear in me. In rugby, I’m pretty comfortable. Yes, you work hard, but it’s pretty smooth. But now to step out of my comfort zone, I’ve got to mentally think about it. Because again, it is completely new. With rugby, you know the old saying, ‘I’ve done 10,000 hours and more training to get there’, but with Strictly, I’ve got 10 days! So, it’s a slightly different concept. And, you know, getting older, learning something new, and new challenges. I think we need to test ourselves every now and then and this will definitely be that. But also on the other side, I touched base with a couple of people who have done the show when I was making my decision and everyone said, ‘You have to do it. It’s an amazing show’. It’s happy, feel-good and challenging. Everyone just spoke so positively about it.
You’ve got a milestone birthday coming up next year, too – did that influence your decision?
I was actually with some friends the other day and we were just talking about it and saying, ‘How often do you reach a certain age – I’m almost 40 – where you get to completely step out of your lane and learn a new skill with a world class professional at the highest level?’ We don’t often get that. We get in our routines, our lives, family and kids and all that kind of stuff, which is great. But then you have this opportunity to really take on something new, which is what I’m so excited about.
How do your family feel about you taking part in the show?
My wife very much started laughing when we first found out, because she knows about my dance moves. But also, she was my biggest supporter. She was like, ‘Look, it’s a great opportunity. It’s amazing, so go and do it, we’ll support you.’ For my boys as well, I’ve got a one year old who obviously doesn’t know what’s going on, but my four year old’s excited. We’ve shown him the show, he loves the sparkles and the lights. He doesn’t quite understand that his dad will be doing it – well, trying to do it – but again, it’s just showing them, ‘You know what? You’ve got to step out of your comfort zone every now and then and really challenge yourself’.
Who’s going to be cheering you on from the audience?
The first week is going to be my wife Camilla and her mum and her aunt. And then my mum will very much be there. The amount of people who have been asking for tickets is crazy! More than when I played for England.
Are you taking any advice from past contestants?
I’ve bumped into a few people who have done Strictly recently. Everyone’s trying to give me their tips and their feedback, trying to loosen up my hips and have a little dance with me. I’ve been chatting to [former rugby player] Ugo Monye, he did it about three years ago. What everyone says is that you just have to go all in and really enjoy it – really enjoy the Strictly experience. As I’ve witnessed so far, it’s not like anything I’ve done before. It’s so different to a rugby environment. It’s so different to general life.
Are you trying to make sure you get further in the competition than Ugo?
That is my goal – to beat him. I think he lasted three or four weeks. So, yeah, I want to go at least one more. It’s a friendly rivalry, though.
What are you most nervous about?
People keep saying, ‘Oh, you’re so brave to be doing it…’ and when they say that, I’m like, ‘What do you mean by brave?’ That worries me a little bit. I’m excited, but nervous about the first official dance. It’s the adrenaline, and I think, as a sportsperson, it’s like that moment before you go on the pitch. But so far, everything’s been brilliant. All the dancers are fantastic teachers. They help you as much as they can and they make you feel comfortable.
You must be prepared for the sore legs?
I hope so! When I played rugby, we did three to four hours training a day, max, and some days half an hour or an hour. Strictly is eight hours day. But it’s the mental side of it that’s completely new. Trying to think of what foot goes first and the way to move and music and time and all that stuff. It doesn’t come naturally to me. After training, we had a friend’s birthday and I was just sat in the corner. I was like, ‘Oh, I’m all right. Just give me a half an hour!’ I was fried, honestly. You can see why they’re all in fantastic shape. But also the other side of the Strictly is amazing – the logistics, the operation, the team behind the team, because there are so many moving parts and their ability to look after everyone… the physios and psychologists, whatever you need really, to make you as good as possible on the weekend.
Do you think having played rugby will help you in any way?
As I said, I will be completely out of my comfort zone, very different to rugby. But to be fair, in some ways, perhaps the same in terms of that sort of mental headspace that you’ve got to be in. Rugby is quite structured. We have certain lineouts where we run through certain patterns. I think with that, it gives us kind of a muscle memory in terms of how to move and remembering structure. So, hopefully I’ll be able to remember the dance. Whether I can make it look good is another story, but hopefully I can at least get the right steps.
How do you think you’ll take any criticism?
I think when anyone gets criticism, it’s never particularly nice, is it? But you’ve got to take it seriously. In the rugby world, we do get criticism, whether that be in training or things, but that’s because people care and they want us to be better. And I think with Strictly, it’s exactly the same. Whether you get feedback, whether it be positive or negative, it’s taken seriously and reflected on. And you know what? They [the judges] they know a lot more than I do in that space. So, yeah, take it, move forward and put it into practice.
Have you got your eyes on who might be your biggest competition already?
Nitro. He looks a bit like a smooth operator. Being a Gladiator, he has that showman in him as well, so I think he could be good. Ugo [Monye] knows him and he said, ‘Yeah, he can move’. But I think a lot of us are in the same boat… although there may be some who have done a little bit of dancing in their past or in their careers.
Are there any songs you definitely want to dance to?
My little boy loves K-pop at the moment, so I’ve said to him if I can, I’ll dance to something along those lines.
And how do you feel about the outfits?
Yeah, it’s going to be different outfits for sure – it’s not just going to be a tracksuit any more! But that is Strictly, I don’t think you can sign up to the show and be like, ‘Oh, I’m not going to wear sparkles’. You just have to have to do it, because once you do, then the public wants you, and you enjoy it more. I think it’s one of those shows. A couple of people I know have done it and didn’t enjoy it early on because they took it too seriously. So, yeah, you take it seriously, you respect it, but you’ve also got to enjoy the experience. They said they were almost too in their own head about the whole thing. So, I’m fully on board with outfits. Luckily, I’ve been on a holiday recently, so I’ve got a good tan, so I don’t know if I’ll be spray tanning just yet. But if I’m still in the competition when it gets to winter, who knows?