🎤 Darren Gough Exclusive Interview

Interview October 2024

The ex-Strictly champion says the judges make their decisions when they watch final rehearsals prior to the live show, he says “I believe that's where the judges get a lot of their info from [final rehearsals] because they have to prepare as well. They have to have some idea of what they're going to do”.

Moving onto cricket, Gough has tipped England to beat Pakistan in their third Test match and says England, Australia and India “are so far ahead of anyone else”.

The former cricketer says Joe Root is one of the best cricketers around the world but “we can’t forget history either because of what’s happening now”.

He supports Freddie Flintoff's appointment as head coach of the England Lions team, saying “I think it's a good appointment,” and says “they’re lining him up” to takeover Brendon McCullum.

The retired cricketer says England have got “the best chance they've had for a long time” to win the Ashes next year.

Strictly Come Dancing

Q: Who’s your favourite to win Strictly Come Dancing this year?

DG: “It's been interesting actually watching it. I think there were quite a few obvious ones who were going to go out and I think one went out last weekend, a good mate of mine Paul Merson. It was a bad dance for him and he was always going after watching that over the weekend. 

“There's one person that does stand out at this moment in time. It happens in every Strictly and it doesn't mean they go on and win it but they have a very good chance the way the format is now.

“That is Jamie Borthwick. I think he's got everything really. He's got the look, he's got energy, he has the character of every dance because of his acting skills, he has a great partner, Michelle and they just really hit it off together and they’re so good. He's so far ahead of everyone else on that show.

“Tasha is not far behind. She's got that elegance on the dance floor, she's got the look as well, and she's got the steps - she knows how to dance. So those two are the standout two, but I think Jamie is by far the favourite.”

Chris McCausland is one of the favourtes for Stricly this season

Strictly Come Dancing Betting Odds

Here are the current odds from online bookies for the winner of this years Strictly Come Dancing show. Odds will appear when available.

Q: His [Jamie Borthwick] Paso Doble was just incredible, wasn't it?

DG: “Out of this world. Well, that was my big dance, the Paso Doble. That's the one that really changed it for me when I did it. It wasn't my favourite dance though.

“It suits the male celebrity dancer. There's nothing worse when you're a male and you do a dance like the Rumba - you just want to get that out of the way. Once you get that one out of the way, you can relax - Pete Wicks got rid of that one at the weekend.

“You don't want to get that when you come to the quarter-finals and semi-finals. That would be a disaster zone to get it at that point in the competition.”

Q: So it's quite strategic, isn't it, where your dances come up in the weeks?

DG: “Absolutely, it plays a big part. Back when I did it, series three it was, we all did the same dance that week, so you could judge everyone. I find it very difficult now, how do you actually judge someone when you've got someone doing a Waltz, someone doing a Quickstep and someone doing a Jive? Naturally, some of the dancers are full of energy and some aren’t, and the public is like, ‘This is a boring dance’.

“They've just seen a Quickstep and then they watch a Rumba… you’re going to struggle to get points.”

Q: Who could be a dark horse to go all the way?

DG: “The one who I think could really improve massively and that's because they’re an athlete is Montell. When you're an athlete there's something about that coming back week after week, after week, you get past that first one or two weeks and then there's that relief and then the athlete kicks in.

“It's that train harder mentality. You want more from your professional. You'd go from doing six hours a day to eight hours. You've got the fitness levels and the mental strength to just keep going up a notch. I think she's going to be one that's going to improve week on week.”

Gough won the third series of Strictly come dancing in 2005

Q: It was quite a shock to see JB Gill and Amy in the bottom two this week. Who do you think gets eliminated this weekend?

DG: “Well, I was surprised he was in the bottom two. I actually think he's another one that could improve massively in these next few weeks. He's got that determination about him.

“The biggest thing about Strictly is that it's changed again. I was never in the bottom two because the public mainly voted, but now, if you're a good dancer, you’re literally guaranteed to get to that last four because the judges always have that final say, right?

“I think JB, as long as he's not in the bottom two with one of the other three or four who are better than him, he's going to keep getting through. 

“So, that's the secret, stay out of the bottom two, but the public have got to enjoy you and at the minute, they've not really attracted themselves to JB or Shayne (Ward). I think Shayne is an absolutely fantastic dancer and he's another one who could improve; but again, the public is not really buying into it yet, but that can change quickly.

“The bottom this week, think Chris has to stay out of that bottom two because if he gets in there, I think he goes, although it's remarkable what he's doing - I actually think I had a tear in my eye. It's amazing to do what he's doing, it’s an absolute inspiration to everybody watching. He deserves the biggest round of applause. Saying that, his dancing is getting better every week.

“Can he keep that up when everybody else steps up as well? I think he's going to stay at the bottom two. I think Punam is going to start there as well, I'm not really too impressed with her dancing skills at this moment in time. I think I agree with the judges, she's just got to let herself go, really enjoy it. At the minute, she's holding something back - quite reserved.

“I think if Pete (Wicks) gets in the bottom two he's going to struggle as well.”

Q: What would be your top tip for the cast of Strictly this year?

DG: “Just remember, it's the public that are voting for you. Be yourself. Enjoy it. Go on the journey with them. They want to see someone go on a journey. They don't want to see the best dancer in week one winning. Trust me, they don't. The judges do. The judges do because that's why the rules changed, so they get the final say. They want to see the best dancer there, but realistically, the public wants to see the journey. 

“They see the enjoyment factor and I think they go on that journey with you. So be yourself, enjoy it and really let the public know you're enjoying it. That's the secret.”

Q: Can you give us insight into any secrets that happen behind the show or trade secrets from Strictly that we probably wouldn't know about as viewers?

DG: “Yeah, I mean, there's quite a few actually. If I go through how it goes each week. So you get your song and you get told after the show what dance you’re going to be doing the next week - you might even get told before the actual weekend show for next week, just in case you get through. 

“From then, you get a CD and you train wherever you train, whether it be in a gym, studio, at home, you train to that CD (which is a certain speed). You then practice that throughout the week and get used to that rhythm - you dance to that rhythm. 

“You turn up on a Friday night where you go into the BBC studio and you try and fit that dance you learnt in a gym or in a studio into the BBC studio, which is a specific size. It's the weirdest feeling ever, you say, I can't do this, I can't fit it into the studio and you get two goes at it - that's it.

“You get two goes to a CD with the other dancers there so they get to see you for the first time as well - so you're judging everyone else, right? The judges don't see you then. You turn up Saturday, you get one more go to a CD on the Saturday. You get one go to a live band and then it all changes again because it's a different tempo. Someone's singing the song you've been practising to a CD all week.

“We all know live performances compared to a CD are totally different. So again, your head is scrambled, it's mad. 

“Two o'clock full live rehearsal and I believe that's where the judges get a lot of their info from because they have to prepare as well. They have to have some idea what they're going to do. I believe they watch that live rehearsal. Well, they're there. They're watching that live rehearsal and they get their little bits from there. Then, unless a disaster happens, in the evening, right, they get a lot of their info from that live rehearsal at 2pm on the Saturday.”

Q: Tell us about your favourite outfit you wore on the show? 

DG: “You don't see your outfit until Friday either when you get there, right? So you're a bit nervous because they don't know what they want you to wear. I remember my first dance a Cha Cha, in week one, I had this cut-off number with the diamonds stuck in my tattoos and I can't believe to this day I wore that, so I started to get a bit more control and have a little bit of input on the outfits I would like.

“My best outfit I wore by far was my red suit to a Christmas special in 2005 and it was Jingle Bells Jingle Bells, a Christmas song and it was a magnificent outfit and it's the only one I actually took home with me. I bought it and took it home with me.

“I gave it to Matthew Hoggard, a cricketer, for his benefit year and he auctioned it off. I wish I would have kept it now because it was unique, a full red suit.”

Q: Did you have the full spray tan shebang?

DG: “Again, some people are a little bit more into that than I was. I think I did it once. I'm quite dark-skinned anyway, right? And I kind of always look as though I've been in the sun for a while. That's probably cricket. I wasn't too keen on the spray tan, I'll be honest with you. 

“But the makeup, you do get a little bit, you do get braver week by week.

“You start to put the eyeliner on and stuff like that, which is comical. But again, you just embrace the show and that's what the public like. You just try everything you can do to get through week by week. If someone else might be getting an edge because they look a little bit brighter on stage with their makeup, you do it as well, right? It's a will to win.”

Q: We spoke about the Pasa Doble earlier, would that be your favourite and most memorable dance that you had on Strictly? 

DG: “My most memorable would have been ‘Hey Big Spender’, which was a Foxtrot and that was, for me, one of the moments where people started to take me seriously I think.

“Then the Quickstep, which was to Robbie Williams, who I'm a massive fan of. Robbie Williams, let me entertain you. The public loved that.

“I tended to pick songs that were lively and suited my personality. 

“Those two, the music to those dancers suited me and they were popular with the public as well.”

Q: Have you got anyone that you'd like to see on the show in the future? Any former England cricket players that you used to play with or any other athletes at all that you'd like to see hit the ballroom?

DG: “Kevin Pieterson all day long - I think it would be hilarious. Honestly, he's six foot seven, or six foot six and he's married to Jessica Pieterson, who was an ex-singer - she did Dancing on Ice. We’re good friends, I was his best man, and I'd love him to do it. I don't think he ever would, but I would love him to do it.

“If I could go for an ex-footballer, who would I like to see on there? Gareth Bale. He's quite quiet, and a little bit reserved, but I actually would love to see him on the dance floor.

“Or even better, what about Andy Murray? I think it'd be terrible though.

“It'd be terrible, Andy, honestly, it would be terrible.”

Q: Have you kept up the dancing at all? Have you danced since strictly?

DG: “Do you know what the worst thing is about Strictly? It has many magical things. But when you've done the show and I won it and won 2005 Christmas special and then I won champion of champions. So wherever you go now, people think you can dance. I can't. All I can do is learn to do a dance in five days and learn the steps and then deliver it on a Saturday. You can't just get up on a dance floor and suddenly dance. 

“You remember some of the steps, now and again I have a joke in me when I'm on the golf course and someone asks me to do it. I go to my usual Salsa steps or something because you can do a little routine in five or 10 seconds, which looks good, but really it's very basic.”

Cricket

Q: Do you think Joe Root is England's best-ever cricketer?

DG: “Joe Root will be up there in the conversation from cricketers around the world. Is he one of the best ever? He’s definitely in that conversation, but I think we can't forget history either because of what’s happening now.

“Because of the longevity of these athletes, the cricketers especially, central contracts, and we've seen it this last 10, 15 years. Cricketers are now playing so much more cricket. Look at the guys that are playing in test matches. I think there are more test matches probably in the last 10 years than the previous 50 or 60. Broad, Anderson, Cook, Strauss, they keep going, you can go on and on, Stokes, Bairstow, they've all played 100 tests and that's..nearly all this modern day team are. Brooke's going to play 100 test matches, Pope's going to play 100 test matches and that's where it's changed. 

“If we're going to look at stats, it's very, very difficult to judge because of the longevity of all these players, but with Joe, what you can do is look at his average and say, wow. And that's why he's in the conversation. He is definitely in the top three players in the world at this moment in time, without a doubt, and he will go on and beat Tendulkar's record as the greatest run scorer in the world. He's that good.

“However, you've got young players in the background like Harry Brook, he's going to play 120, 130, 140 test matches and if he carries on the way he's going, he'll pass Joe Root's record as well.

“That's what I'm saying, it's so hard. We'll then move on, forgetting that Joe Root was judged as the greatest player now, but in another five years, because of the longevity of the game in athletes, are we going to be saying the same thing?”

ALSO READ

The Best Cricket Betting Sites 2025

Q: How do you see England’s third Test match in Pakistan going? I think they're currently slightly just edging on favourites with the bookmakers. Do you think that's justified favouritism?

DG: “I would say I think so. The problem with Test Cricket in this era is that there are three really good teams. That's England, Australia and India. India got beat this week. They got beat by New Zealand, which no one can believe, and bowled out for 46. England got beat by Sri Lanka, just gone in one Test match. They'd already won the series, by the way and now they've been beaten by Pakistan.

“So they can get beaten, but these three teams are so far ahead of anyone else. The game is being played at Rawalpindi, but the Pakistan team and the public would have wanted a pitch that is known to spin. They would have preferred to be playing this game in Karachi, but for reasons we all know about, they can't be. I played in Rawalpindi and out of all the grounds, that does offer a little bit of swing and seam movement for the bowlers, the seam bowlers.

“If that does happen, I think England are by far the favourite side and the toss of the coin becomes vital as always when you're playing India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka. Look, Pakistan are coming off the back of the win. I love Shan Masood, he's a good friend of mine, captain of Pakistan, so I want him to do well, as well as Jason Gillespie, the coach - this England team should have enough, they should have enough to beat them.”

Q: Freddie Flintoff has recently become the head coach of the England Lions team. What are your thoughts on his new position?

DG: “I think a lot of people talk about him not having any coaching badges, right? I get where they're coming from because we have a system in place, which means you go, you do your coaching badges, but at the end of the day what does it really mean. 

“You've got someone who's played at the highest level as an icon figure; he's gone through an odd time over the past three or four years. He stepped away from cricket because of his own personal issues he was having many years ago. He sorted himself out, became a TV presenter and has done a magnificent job. He needed to go back to cricket and cricket welcomed him back in. I think no matter the criticism, I think it's a good appointment. 

“It’s not about hitting through straight lines and throwing balls. It's about somebody who can inspire you at the highest level. When you're a young player and you come into the England team and you can look at the coach and think, he's done it at the highest level, he inspires me. He does need those coaches who have got the qualifications behind him to advise him on things he might get slightly wrong, but as a frontman, as the head coach. I think it's a good appointment.”

Image: shutterstock

Q: Can you see him becoming the coach of the full England side in the future or perhaps not yet?

DG: “I think they’re lining him up to do it, I don’t think Brendon McCullum will want to do this forever. He's from New Zealand, he lives in New Zealand and at some point in his life is he going to want to keep popping over here leaving his young family; there’s got to come a balance between your personal life and professional life and at some point we all know he's going to go and do something else. Franchise cricket will call him again, he's done it once and he might go back to that. 

“I think, again, Freddie would be one of the favourites for that role, but again, you would need coaches who have put in the hard yards with him just to help him along the way and there's plenty of them in this country. I've done my coaching badges myself and I coached the Lions against Sri Lanka this year at Worcester and I loved it. 

“It's great to be about those young players who've got so much talent and energy and want to become a Flintoff or a Gough or an Anderson or Broad. It's great to see him. He's the perfect man for me to be in that position.”

Q: Talking about Freddie being an inspiration, he recently did the docu-series on the BBC, The Field of Dreams. What did you think of the programme? Did you enjoy it?

DG: “Absolutely, it's inspirational and it just shows the power of sport really, what it can do. No matter what background you're from, or where you're from in the world, cricket can bring a smile to anybody's face and sport, any sport can bring a smile to anyone's face. That’s what the programme highlighted for me. You saw a bunch of boys come together who had no idea really what cricket was.

“There were a couple of not-bad players in there and they turned them into a group that wanted each other to do well and that's the biggest thing about being around a group, socialising and showing the joys that it can bring. I did a similar thing back in 1997 called Darren Gough Cricket Academy and it got nominated for a BAFTA, a very similar thing.

“It was young people, boys and girls, coming together and I was coaching them along with other coaches, specialist coaches and seeing how they could improve and it was educational. So I went into schools to show them how easy cricket could be and how you can make it so basic that anybody could play and make it fun. This has taken it to another level by bringing a group of people together and making a TV documentary out of it and then going to India, which is challenging enough as it’s a hard place to tour.

“I'm excited to see where that goes next and who's with him on the show. Kyle Hogg (Freddie’s co-coach on the show)  is quite quiet, and totally different to Fred but I think they suit, he’s good to have around and this is what I'm talking about, someone who's put in the hard yards as a coach just being at the side of him to advise him on little bits and pieces.”

Q: Can England win the Ashes next year

DG: “Well, I think this is the best chance they've had for a long time. To go to Australia, this team should have everything in order and they're making sure they look after their players. 

“They're looking after the likes of Jofra Archer, Mark Wood. These are going to go to Australia. So they will make sure to wrap them in cotton wool next summer and they'll play a couple of games next year, but they won't play all summer.

“They'll make sure they're right for that Ashes series. I think it's England's best chance for a long time, but Australia are also a very, very good team. They're consistent in their selection. England are consistent in selection. They're going to miss Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson, they're a big loss, but I think with Wood and Archer, if they are fit, alongside two of the younger ones, I think England have got a great chance.”

Ashes Betting Odds

These are the current Ashes beting odds from the best cricket bookmakers.

Ashes Series 2025/26

Latest odds at Apr 29, 2025

Tap or mouseover chart elements for more info. Pinch to zoom.

	Selection	Probability	Odds
1	Australia	66.7%	1.50
2	England	26.7%	3.75
3	Draw	14.3%	7.00

Q: Darren, you played for England for 12 years and took 229 wickets in total. So I'm sure you've got so many memories of all those wickets, but we want to know what your favourite wicket was and why?

DG: “Well, yeah, Test match wickets I got 229, 235 one day wickets and I only played two T20s because I retired, three wickets I got in that. So it's a lot of wickets, but my favourite wicket in Test matches would be my first Ashes wicket and that was David Boon who was an absolute legend when I was growing up.

“Everybody knows Booney with that beard and tash, big long tash. Looked like a walrus, an iconic figure in Australian cricket. Coming in at three, I'm bowling, the new kid on the block, nobody had ever seen me in Ashes cricket and I got this ball to pitch, nipped back, he left it and it knocked his stump out of the ground. I could have cried. That was the most important wicket for me to believe I'm playing against one of the legends of the game, an Australian icon, and knocking his balls out of the ground. Never forget that.”

Q: Cricket is quite renowned for its lunches. So we want to know what cricket ground in the world does the best lunches?

DG: “Well, I could be more specific in England. It's Lords, it might have changed now, but you used to get a three-course choice. So you get three choices of starters. I used to go for the big prawns, giant prawns, then you got a main, where you can normal chicken, or you can have red meat, you can have vegetarian or you can have the curry choice, so on a bowling day, you didn't eat as much, but when you are buying, you used to fill your boots big time. Lords is pretty special. 

“New Zealand, Auckland out of this world. It had almost like a Chinese menu to it. So that used to be very popular with the players. Melbourne, very similar in Australia. That was fantastic too. South Africa - not really a fan of that one, I couldn't really put one of them in my top five.

“In county cricket in England, the smaller clubs, you go to somewhere like Worcester, Worcestershire County Cricket Club went there this year with England Lions. Outstanding. So it proves you can do anything on a budget.”