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00:00Welcome to our Strictly for a Cause podcast. Today I am joined by Karen McBey. Welcome.
00:13Hello, thank you for having me.
00:15So Karen is the engineer behind all of Strictly to me. It's everywhere, doing everything all at once.
00:22What is your role at Strictly and Bruness, Karen?
00:24So I've come on from the ice centre side. So we've got Karen and Wendy from the hospice side.
00:31And yeah, so I pop in and out of the dance lessons, just check everyone's all right, get the joy of the costumes, which you'll know is quite a big, big task.
00:41Fun though, it's now finished. So we've come to the end of the costumes. That's a bit of a relief.
00:46And then, yeah, just the sort of actual setup side. So just the background stuff, like ordering the dance floor, tables, chairs, bar, stock, pre-orders, things like that.
00:57So a lot.
00:58Yeah, a lot. But it's, yeah, it's good fun. It does spread itself out. You know, you do them section by section.
01:04And so maybe, you know, you order the slot in, say, September, October. So we know we've got it booked in and then we do.
01:10The outfits are the big chunks out of January to April. And then the setup. Yeah, it's probably the 10 days before show week is probably the busiest.
01:19Setting everything up and ordering stock and payments for pre-orders. And yeah, that's probably the busiest part. But it's good fun.
01:26Yeah. So how long have you been doing this now?
01:29Behind the scenes will be my fourth Strictly on this side. I did it as a contestant about eight years ago. So it's very different to see it from the other side. Yeah, completely.
01:41You think that you kind of know what goes on and all the happenings. But yeah, it was a big eye opener, particularly because the first year I came in, it was just as we were coming out of COVID.
01:49So 2022. And we started with some restrictions still in place. So group dance, if I remember rightly, started by Zoom.
01:59Yeah. And then individual lessons. So we would have, you know, at the moment you train with a different couple from Team Friday for both your dances.
02:07But at that point, it had to be like the same bubble. So you'd have the same couple for both dances, which was quite nice, actually.
02:14People really, I think, bonded a bit closer. But again, they started off like the half hour of a less movie, one couple, and then you'd have to sit down and the other couple could be on the floor.
02:25And there was no touching for the first few weeks. So very surreal experience. And there were still the restrictions up until a few weeks before the show around having to be vaccinated to get into, you know, the performances.
02:37And so, yeah, it was a very unusual year. But since then, it's kind of calmed down a bit.
02:43And I feel like I've maybe got into a bit more of a groove now. And Carrie and Wendy have been doing it for that long that they're such a good team to work with.
02:50So, yeah, yeah, the three of us work really well together.
02:52That's good, because it is a mammoth challenge.
02:54Totally. Yeah.
02:56Tell us about you being a contestant, because you did very well.
02:58Yeah. So I actually had applied, it was the fifth time I applied that I got in. So I always say to people, if you don't get in the first time, just keep going, you'll get there.
03:10I had a great time, had a really good partner. We had lovely twins. We actually had the same twins for both our dances, which was so nice.
03:18And yeah, it was just, I think we were the first couple to get through to the final and win the final, but we didn't win a night.
03:25So that was quite nice as well. Yeah, it was just, it was lots of fun. I had a great time. But yeah, it's very different the other side.
03:34Yeah. What dances did you do when you did it?
03:36We did like an 80s mashup show dance and American Smooth, which was just my favourite.
03:42Ballroom is, yeah, I love, it's just so, maybe we weren't that elegant, but I love watching other people do it because it's so elegant and just beautiful.
03:51And the dresses and the stories, yeah, it's just, it's lovely. It's one of my favourite dances.
03:55And is that the one where you're dressed like you're coming home from war?
03:59Yeah, so my partner was dressed, Ian was dressed as a sailor.
04:03Yeah.
04:03And I was the, yeah.
04:05Welcoming home.
04:06I know, yeah, welcome home.
04:07But yeah, it was great fun. It was, I would say, you know, people, people sometimes will say, oh, I don't know how to do the, like the faces and stuff.
04:16And I can totally understand that because I think until the week beforehand, I would look at the floor.
04:20And I remember my dance partner just said, well, we might not get to do it again.
04:23So let's just go out and have fun and just bring the show.
04:27And yeah, it was all worth it, isn't it?
04:28Yeah. And you can check it out on YouTube.
04:31No, no, please don't.
04:32No, it's great. It's lovely. So tell us, then, costumes is a massive part. To begin with, when you're ordering the costumes, how many parcels are you ordering per week?
04:42Because you're ordering different sizes.
04:43Yeah.
04:44Different legs.
04:45I think my postman is fed up with me this year. So in total, we do 100 outfits because everyone's got three dances each. And then we've obviously got the mentors as well. So there's four costumes for them for group dance.
04:58Yes. I think I've sent back nearly 245 parcels this year, returns alone. So that probably tells you how many I've actually ordered.
05:07Yeah.
05:07And my spreadsheets, you know, are pretty accurate to be able to track that. It's very difficult because you get an idea in your head with a, you know, but the tutor has an idea of the kind of vibe that they're going for, the story.
05:19And we might order things and just maybe doesn't suit the couple. Or we think actually, yes, that part looks good, but maybe we need to change that. Sometimes the theme of the dance changes after we've ordered stuff. So it just goes back and we try something new. Sometimes we can pick stuff up for that we already have in the Strictly wardrobe. So we've got stuff that's been left over from other years we haven't used. It's just a real mishmash. But yeah, I think my postman's glad it's me now.
05:45It's done.
05:45Yeah. And there'll be no more parcel deliveries.
05:47Because of course you just also have to get things, like you will get something you think is great.
05:51Yeah.
05:51And then the contestant hates it.
05:54That does happen. Yes.
05:57What is the most over the years who think you've gone back? We're not going to single anyone out, but with the outfit.
06:03I wouldn't say there's anything really, really bad. I think maybe just the odd one. We've had to try a couple of different things.
06:08I think as well, it can be difficult for dancers because they're putting stuff on that they would never wear normally.
06:16And for some people, they're quite happy to jump into that. And, you know, that's fine.
06:20Other people, maybe it takes a little bit more time to get comfortable with that realisation that we're not dressing them to go to the den on a Saturday night.
06:27It's to go out and do a performance and we are going to sequen it and we're going to add tassels maybe or different bits.
06:34And it's just, yeah, it can be more, it can be a bit more daunting, but we always get there.
06:38You do. And that is in a lower part. So don't just order in the costume rooms, but dazzling everything.
06:43Dazzling, yes.
06:43How many do you think you have stuck on to outfits?
06:46I would hate to think. It's in the thousands, definitely. I mean, the first year I did it, it was the most painstakingly hard task to do because I had never done it before.
06:57I just wasn't sure what the best, you know, way to do it was. It was probably the longest way I picked.
07:03But kind of got it down to a bit of a quicker process now. But yeah, it's a lot. It's a lot.
07:10It's a lot.
07:10It's got sequins everywhere.
07:11Yeah. How many hours a week do you think you devote to sequining?
07:16I would hate to guess. I mean, some days I could just do a few hours depending on what else is going on in this background of things.
07:26But some days you can be doing a full day, like nine till nine or whatever, just because at some points you have to be like, we have to get them finished.
07:33They have to get out for the dress runs. So let's just full steam ahead.
07:37Sometimes it's really therapeutic. Other days it's a bit of a nightmare, depending on what outfit you've got in front of you and the materials.
07:44But I like to just put on a Netflix movie in the background, something really cheesy and just switch my brain off for a little while.
07:51Because you've got a few people that help because Claire does some too.
07:53Yeah, so Claire is a godsend. She is helping me with all the alterations because I can stick stuff on and order them and work out different things.
08:02But to alter outfits is just, it's not my bag whatsoever. So she is, yeah, a lifesaver with all that.
08:10And she takes some of them away and stones parts of them in that as well. So, yeah, amazing.
08:15And Suzanne has done some of her Team Friday stuff this year as well and last year. So, yeah, everyone does their parts.
08:21It's a real team effort.
08:22Total team effort, yeah.
08:24It is. And it does take a village to make this thing work.
08:27100%.
08:27It really does. So many moving parts.
08:29Definitely. I think it surprises most people when they realise how many different elements there are, I think.
08:36Yeah.
08:36Yeah.
08:37We've talked a lot during these podcasts about the fundraising element.
08:41Yes.
08:41And we had Wendy and Carian, who obviously talked about the impact of the Highland Hospice.
08:45But the Inverness Eye Centre is also a recipient of it, half of it.
08:49Yes.
08:50Tell us what difference does this fundraising make to the Inverness Eye Centre?
08:53I mean, yeah, I think for us, firstly, a lot of people don't know that we're a charity.
08:58It surprises a lot of people.
09:00They think we're Highlife Highland or we're privately owned.
09:03So when people do come on board for Strictly, it is 90% of them, I would say, have no idea.
09:09Obviously, for the Highland Hospice, people are more aware of the services they provide, amazing services they provide, and how much that costs to run a day.
09:17I think they're about £8,000 a day to run.
09:20So for them, I think, Strictly is their biggest fundraiser of the year.
09:24And that obviously goes to helping that daily cost, but also their other services that they provide.
09:29For us, it really just helps to keep the place open.
09:33With the energy crisis and the cost of living crisis and the impact of COVID, it's just, you know, you'll see in the newspapers, it's right across the country.
09:44Ice centres have struggled because the cost of keeping them running is so high.
09:48So for us, yeah, Strictly is the biggest thing we do every single year to buy a country mile to keep the doors open.
09:54Because so many people use ice centre, but I guess it's not like a high value, like people are not spending heaps to come in here.
10:00Yeah, I think.
10:01Using it a lot.
10:02I think unless you play curling or ice hockey or you're an ice skater, you would maybe visit the ice centre for public skating once or twice a year.
10:12You know, we're a much busier winter because that's just, that is what ice skating is.
10:17It's a festive thing.
10:18It's, you know, becomes skating with Santa or it's something to do on the wet, rainy November days.
10:24We see a big upturn when Dancing on Ice is on, for example, because it gives more people the, like, they feel they can go out there themselves and learn what the celebrities are learning.
10:34So, yeah, it's, it is, I think, unless you're involved in the sports, you probably don't visit more than maybe a couple of times a year.
10:42So, yeah, it can be difficult because then you've got the same audience.
10:45It's, and we're working on with the local schools, the, you know, the sports coordinators to try and improve access to three sports.
10:55But, yeah, it's not an easy process and it takes time.
10:58So, in that interim, Strictly is helping us fill that void.
11:02Yeah.
11:02Do you think you should be doing Dancing on Ice competition or is that just health and safety?
11:06No, no.
11:07I think it had been looked at before.
11:09We've talked about it a couple of times since COVID, but the logistics of it and the training elements and, yeah, health and safety, it's just not feasible.
11:18No.
11:19Unfortunately.
11:20No.
11:21So, what do you think watching Strictly and Burness?
11:23Because you get to go to all the practices.
11:25Yeah.
11:26You know, you get to see people doing the outfits.
11:27You've been there from the beginning, group practices, individuals.
11:31What's your favourite part of it?
11:32Well, I think the show week is my favourite part and I don't actually just mean the nights that, like, the whole week just is a completely different vibe to the four months previous.
11:46Everyone's a bit more relaxed.
11:47The fundraising's over so that weight is off people's shoulders.
11:50The training's done so you kind of know you're ready to go out there.
11:54You've got your costumes.
11:55You're booked in for your hair and makeup.
11:57You're maybe getting your tan.
11:58And it's just a lot more chilled and people just really decide to go out and enjoy themselves and it's just such a nice vibe.
12:05I prefer the daytime to the shows, actually.
12:07Yeah.
12:07So, we do breakfast, you know, with the teams and then everyone gets rehearsal slots.
12:12We do show run-through and it's just the whole day is like a great atmosphere.
12:16So, you know, the tutors are getting to see other people's dances and everyone is just really supportive of everyone and your teammates are there with you.
12:25It's just a lovely day.
12:26Yeah.
12:27I prefer the day to the evening, personally, just because I think it's such a nice...
12:32There's less, slightly less nerves.
12:34Yeah, and more camaraderie.
12:36Yeah, completely.
12:37Oh, I'm getting excited now, you're talking about it.
12:38Very excited.
12:39It is, I know.
12:40And one of the things you're going to have to do is we're all getting a fake tan.
12:43Yes.
12:43Now, you shared a lovely picture of you with your fake tan.
12:48Can you tell us what shade you went for?
12:51I went as if I'd been maybe on holiday for a year.
12:54Yeah.
12:54Yeah, my bassist, so myself and my dance partner and two of our team Thursday, we decided that we would go, the four of us would go together.
13:04We were the last tans of the evening and we got in the car and one of our teammates was driving.
13:10The rest of us, you know, we had a wee Prosecco in the back seat, came down, had our tans and we all agreed that we were just going to go the darkest shade possible because it's a long week.
13:21You want it to last until, fingers crossed, you get through on the Saturday.
13:24You want it to last until that and the after party on the Sunday.
13:28And that's what we went for and it certainly did the job.
13:31So I'm always, yeah, the darker the better because it has to last you those four or five days.
13:37Yeah, and you're obviously sweating as you're practicing.
13:38Absolutely, and the top layer runs off when you wash it off the next day.
13:42So, yeah.
13:43Yeah.
13:44Darker the better for me.
13:45Smell like digestive biscuits.
13:46That's what I think fake tan smells like.
13:47Actually, last year it was mango.
13:50Oh, okay.
13:50Yeah, they've got a really good, it was a lovely smell last year.
13:54Okay.
13:54I think I'm going to go the darkest possible I can.
13:58100%.
13:58What do you do to unwind when you're not focusing on strikes like Karen?
14:04I love to travel.
14:06I've got lots of nieces and nephews so that's my big unwind, just taking them out, playing away with them.
14:13So much fun.
14:14But yeah, getting away is my thing.
14:17Escaping for a little while, a bit of sunshine or city break.
14:20Or something like that.
14:21Have you got a favourite destination?
14:23Or do you like to try new places?
14:24I mean, no, I love to try new places.
14:26I love the Greek islands for a summer.
14:29Just because I just love everything about how laid back it is.
14:34Just the food, the wine.
14:36It's always good.
14:37I've never had a bad Greek island yet.
14:39Yeah, I like a real mixture.
14:41I think there's a lot of places in the world to see.
14:43So there's the odd place I'll maybe go back to a couple of times.
14:46We have a family that live in South Africa, so we do visit there.
14:50And Cape Town is probably my favourite city in the world.
14:53And that's a destination you can keep going and there's always something new happening.
14:58But yeah, other than that, yeah, I like to see.
15:01There's a big world out there.
15:02I've got a huge bucket list.
15:03So I'm trying to tick them all off.
15:05What's on it for this year?
15:06I don't have a yearly one.
15:07So this is my interesting fact, actually.
15:10I'm a strictly for it.
15:10Okay, parlous.
15:11Is my bucket list has over a thousand entries.
15:14So I'm ticking them off, trying to tick them all off.
15:16And they're a real mixture of maybe sporting events that I would like to go to or singers
15:21that I would love to see live.
15:23A lot of them is travel related.
15:25So yeah, that's kind of my thing.
15:27You've got a number one dream destination.
15:29I don't.
15:30No.
15:31There's a couple.
15:32There's two that kind of tie closely.
15:35Slovenia.
15:36Okay.
15:37Which surprises people because I always think I'm going to say somewhere like the Maldives
15:40or something like that.
15:42And Sri Lanka.
15:43That's my two favourites at the moment.
15:45Very nice.
15:45So yeah, a little bit different.
15:47Yeah.
15:47Hopefully we'll see you there soon.
15:48Fingers crossed.
15:49Yeah.
15:50I think mine's the Cook Islands.
15:51Oh, yes.
15:52I'd love, like I see myself living there for a period.
15:55I was like looking at one time.
15:56I was like, are there jobs?
15:58And like all this stuff, I was like, I'm just going to move.
16:00Absolutely.
16:00Move to the Cook Islands.
16:01This is the joy of working from home now.
16:03Yeah, I know.
16:03I don't.
16:04Yeah.
16:04I don't think my boss would let me work from home there, to be honest.
16:07Not yet.
16:07Not yet.
16:08You never know.
16:09Can't report on court.
16:10No, true.
16:11Very true.
16:12You can still do strictly though.
16:13You can still do strictly from afar.
16:16Yeah.
16:16Strictly podcast.
16:17Exactly.
16:18I'll just do that from there.
16:19Sure.
16:19That'd be great.
16:20So tell us, what would be your one piece of advice to contestants?
16:24Hopefully this is going to go before we hit the stage.
16:27Okay.
16:27Honestly, just enjoy the week.
16:29It's a very tiring week.
16:31You know, even just getting your spray tan on Tuesday.
16:34You've got your, probably, all your appointments booked in your nails and your things like that.
16:38So just take some time for yourself.
16:41Just, there's nothing wrong with going away and having a wee half hour, hour to yourself.
16:45Just some downtime.
16:47Just, yeah.
16:48Enjoy the moment.
16:49Everyone says that, I'm sure.
16:50But it does go past really, really fast.
16:53If you think how fast the actual process has gone.
16:56I know.
16:57You can imagine what next week will feel like.
16:59So just take some time out to enjoy it.
17:01Yeah.
17:02Yeah.
17:02It's an amazing experience.
17:04And a lot of people will never understand what the experience is like.
17:09And it's very difficult, I think, to relate, relate to people who've never done it.
17:14It's a once in lifetime experience.
17:15So yeah, just make the most of it and enjoy the after party.
17:19Enjoy the after party.
17:20Yes.
17:21And do you have a particular dance style that you are fond of, apart from American Smooth?
17:25Yeah.
17:26So American Smooth, definitely because I did it, I think.
17:28But I love the Paso.
17:31Mm-hmm.
17:31Every single year, I think it's been my favourite dance.
17:34One of my favourite dances.
17:36It's just, I think it's the drama.
17:38I just love it.
17:39And it just always looks so intense and fierce.
17:43And yeah, I just, I love it.
17:45It's so good.
17:46Quite a fan of the jive as well.
17:49But it just scares me because it's so fast.
17:52I take my hat off to anyone that does the jive because it's, yeah.
17:55So that's number one out on the Thursday.
17:57Oh, it's the jive.
17:57Yes, it is.
17:58Yeah, Laura and John's starting with the jive.
18:00Yeah.
18:00So it's very exciting.
18:01It is.
18:02It'll get the crowds going.
18:03Yeah.
18:03It's very lively, so.
18:04Very lively.
18:05And then we're on after them second, so.
18:07Oh, it's terrifying.
18:08Also very good.
18:09Yeah.
18:09Hopefully.
18:10Well, thank you so much.
18:11No, thank you for having me.
18:12For joining us on the podcast.
18:14And thank you for everything you do for us, Strictly.
18:17Thank you guys for everything you've done for us.
18:19Thanks.