LIKE rutting stags, the males surround the females and begin a groin-thrusting ritual in a desperate bid to win the best partner.
The steamy spectacle isn’t a mating scene from a David Attenborough nature show, it’s actually one of Strictly Come Dancing’s best-kept secrets — the Chemistry Circle.
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Before the celebrities and professionals are paired up for the start of each series, they perform a sexy salsa in a circle, constantly swapping partners, as producers decide who will look good together.
But since so many pairs have also ended up in bed, some of the pros also refer to it as The Speed Dating Circle.
It’s just one of the behind-the-scenes revelations in Saturday night documentary Strictly: The Professionals, which gets fans revved up for next week’s first live show on BBC1.
The programme even reveals how some of the men lock horns over the ladies, with Kevin Clifton earning a reputation as the most territorial.
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During last year’s Chemistry Circle he made a beeline for Stacey Dooley — the woman who captured his heart, and the dance partner he won the contest with.
But in a scene reminiscent of that other TV nature show, Love Island, he nearly lost her to rival male AJ Pritchard.
Kevin, 36, said: “Last year with Stacey in the salsa circle I was going for it — bang, bang, bang — overdoing it.
“And then at one point we were on a coffee break and AJ interrupted us in the middle of us talking and took her away, because he wanted to get to know and see what she was about. I was like, ‘It’s not Love Island, mate!’ ”
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The programme features Kevin recalling his battle with AJ over Stacey to fellow pro Aljaz Skorjanec, who responds: “He broke your heart!”
Katya Jones said that three-times-married Kevin was always the pro who was the most determined to bag a particular woman.
She added: “You can really see when somebody tries to show there’s extra chemistry. For me, it’s Kevin — you can always see it.”
Though the circle is a familiar annual event for the pro dancers, for the celebs experiencing it for the first time it’s an eerie moment.
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Actor Jake Wood — Max Branning in EastEnders — remembers his circle dance when he signed up for the programme in 2014.
He said: “All the producers walk around and look, and you’re not sure what they’re looking at.”
Presenter Mark Wright, who also competed in 2014, was just as freaked out.
He said: “You’re like, ‘Are they gonna kick me off the show?’ Because they’re just staring at you. But they’re seeing the chemistry.”
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The show also reveals that the pros are always anxious to find out who they are paired with. And when they discover their partner, they hit the internet to answer two crucial questions.
AJ, 24, said: “When the names get released it’s a quick search — for me, their height and probably where they live.”
Comic Brian Conley, who took part in 2017’s Strictly, recalled: “Everybody’s coming up to you, saying, ‘Where do you live? Where do you live?’
“I thought, ‘Why does everybody want to know where I live?’ It’s because they know they’ve got to rehearse with you and they don’t want you too far away.”
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Newsreader Katie Derham, who competed in 2015, added: “What they really don’t want is somebody who lives in the middle of Dartmoor or something, and in panto and really busy.”
Pro dancer Oti Mabuse has an unusual test which her dance partners have to pass.
She said: “If I meet my celeb, I literally scare them, and if they laugh, I think, ‘We’ll have a good time,’ but if they go, ‘All right!’ I’m like, ‘This is not gonna work.’”
And some of the celebs still vividly recall 29-year-old Oti deliberately scaring them during their initial meetings.
TV doctor Ranj Singh, who appeared in Strictly last year, said: “The first thing Oti said to me was, ‘Are you scared of me?’ And I was like, ‘Should I be?’ ”
The 2018 series runner-up, Joe Sugg, agreed, saying: “And me — she did that to me too.”
Kevin also admitted it took him three tries to be hired by Strictly bosses — while his then wife and dance partner Karen Hauer was signed up at her first attempt in 2012.
It was largely down to Kevin’s unusual look at the time of auditioning.
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He said: “I had long black hair, eyeliner, black fingernails — ‘Don’t think I’m your average ballroom dancer, guys!’
“They said, ‘We’d love to take Karen, but not that guy. We’ve no need for this Gothic scarecrow who thinks he’s the rock star of the ballroom.’”
After a second rejection, Kevin was forced to take a very low-profile job in a 2012 trailer for Strictly.
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He said: “The idea for it was that these Strictly stars would be dancing with an invisible partner — ‘Who’s it gonna be?’ That invisible partner was me — I just wanted a job.
“That’s me in the morph suit carrying all the Strictly dancers about, then being rubbed out of the trailer.
“And then two or three days later I got the call to say we can have you on the show.”
- Strictly The Professionals is on BBC1 on Saturday at 7pm.
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