Strictly star Brendan Cole brings another spectacular production to Lighthouse, Poole, this month

You have been in every season of Strictly Come Dancing, why do you think the show is so popular?

"Because it has a magic about it. It’s old fashioned, variety entertainment that can be watched by the whole family. It has beauty, drama, excitement, tears… It pretty much has everything you could want for Saturday night TV!"

To be a dancer you have to be confident and really bare your sole. Have you always been self-assured and when did you realise you wanted to perform in front of people?

"No I haven’t! I am very confident within what I do as I have worked extremely hard to get to the level that I have. To do anything well you have to believe in yourself and in your ability to do what it is that you are doing. I didn’t find my confidence properly until my mid 20’s. One day I realised that most people were actually so worried about themselves and what others thought of them that they didn’t have time to worry about all of the things that I felt insecure about. I changed from that day forward and have remained fairly self-assured ever since."

Do you get nervous when you perform, either on Strictly or when touring?

"Not really for Strictly. There isn’t a lot of time to get nervous for the TV show. I will admit to being nervous on every opening night of my theatre productions (this will be my fourth). Such a huge amount of thought and time goes into putting a big show like this together and you want it to be perfect both for the audience and the cast."

Both Strictly and your live tour require huge levels of fitness, can you describe your training schedule. Do you relax your regime at all?

"Dancing in general keeps me pretty fit. Having said that, I am very fit for dance which gives me a certain level of fitness but if I was to try and do a marathon I’d fail miserably. Like anything, you condition yourself for your given discipline. I always chuckle to myself when celebs on Strictly boast that they are really fit (which of course some are) but then two or three run throughs of a Jive leaves them lying on the floor gasping for breath! It’s funny to watch."

In preparation for your tour All Night Long, do you plan all the choreography for the dances or do you work with a team? How difficult is it to come up with new ideas for song choices and routines?

"It is very much a team effort between myself and my cast. I will have certain ideas as to how I want the show to form but it’s important for me to have the cast involved. I need to make sure there is something for everyone, old, new and in-between. My Wife Zoe, myself and my Musical Director spend many days, throwing around ideas and eventually we have ourselves a show list."

Each live tour features a new team of dancers, how do you select these?

"This, like everything is a process. It’s so important to get the right team. We are 22 artists (dancers and musicians) all on stage and it’s vital to get the right chemistry between us all. When it comes to leading ladies, you kind of just know if it’s right or not! All of my girls could have been my leading lady and everyone’s job on stage is crucial to the success of the show. For All Night Long, Faye Huddleston has been tasked with dancing with me throughout the show and I am so excited to be working with her. "

What can we expect to see on this tour?

"All of things that you’d expect from a great entertainment show and more. A complete show! I want every single person that comes to my show to have the most exceptional night of entertainment. I like to think that we create a show that has something for everyone. We have amazing talent on stage… All of the Strictly dance Styles that people love, big band live music throughout, choreography full of excitement, intimacy, emotion and skill. There is a lot of laughter and chat throughout the show as well so essentially, we just have a ball!"

How do you cope with touring your live shows? Does your family go with you?

"It is definitely hard but I love every second of it. Obviously when it comes to family it is hard. My Wife Zoe and our daughter Aurélia don’t often come with me as touring isn’t really conducive to normal family living. As a team we create the tour and my wife Zoe is at the heart of a lot of the decisions I make as they affect our lives so dramatically."

Brendan Cole: All Night Long is at Lighthouse, Poole on Saturday, March 18. Tickets, priced from £30, are available from lighthousepoole.co.uk or 01202 280000.