Hi everyone!

Finally... isn't it wonderful to see that Spring has sprung, with some colourful flowers, bright and sunny days, and the beginning of longer evenings! (I must admit I am not a lover of cold winters!)

The Tour

Sadly the tour of 'Puttin' on the Ritz' has come to an end. This year we travelled from Dundee to Plymouth via Ireland with thirty-nine shows in twenty-three cities all in eight weeks.

It has been a fantastic show and exciting that I got to sing this time. If you managed to get to one of the shows thank you for your magnificent support!! It was also a pleasure to meet so many of you after the performances, outside some very chilly and dark stage doors. It is rewarding to have you come and enjoy the show and be such wonderful audiences.

For your delectation I have added some of my favourite photos taken over the eight weeks; I have also added a few links to reviews of the show.

We had some great moments on the tour, here are a few to remind you (if you were there) and if you weren't, you can have a giggle anyway:

• When we were performing at Nottingham, someone was eating a box of sweets in the second row and Anton asked if he could have one, so she handed us her box of Roses, which Anton took, tipped them out on stage (so he could find his favourite) and then proceeded to throw the remainder into the audience! I bet she won't offer her sweets to Anton again!!!
• We were just saying hello to the audience after the first dance in Basingstoke when a couple of late arrivals ambled in to take their seats. Anton did his usual "you're late" routine when suddenly I noticed it was my husband and friends!! Oops!! Anton had a lot of fun taking the mickey out of Peter for the rest of the evening.
• Whilst driving to the next venue after one of our shows, at about 1am in the morning, we decided to pull over for a coffee. I still had my stage makeup on and false eyelashes, though more concerning, Anton still had foundation on his face! Well, as we walked into the motorway services we realised there were about 30 butch rugby players also queuing for refreshments. The look on Anton's face was a picture, convinced he was going to get the rib taken… and to our surprise, all of a sudden we were surrounded by the team asking for photos — they were big Strictly fans!! It just goes to show even big beefy rugby players enjoy Strictly!
• Having booked a ticket with 'the world's favourite airline' to come back from Dublin, we turned up around 7.30am expecting to waltz onto our flight, when we were greeted by check-in staff announcing that the flight was full!!! I thought when you booked a ticket you were guaranteed a seat... well apparently not. Anyway, after a little gentle negotiation with the airline staff (Anton threatened to kill someone!!!) we managed to get on the flight, but if the poor soul who gave up their seat for us is reading this — Thank You!
• When the tour ended I was unpacking my cases and noticed that somehow, I had accumulated 25 bags of Minstrels and Counters — now this is surprising because as you know I don't even eat chocolate ;-) !!! By the time I have eaten them all I will be looking like Miss Piggy! Thanks to everyone who supplied me along the way and contributed to my coronary!! I only finished the tour a couple of weeks ago and I've been at the gym every day to try and get rid of the Minstrel fat!

I would like to give a special thank you to Raymond Gubbay, our tour promoter; the fine musicians in the London, Manchester, Scottish and Welsh Concert Orchestras, with their conductor, Richard Balcombe; our lovely singer Lance Ellington from Strictly; and our accompanying dancers, Francine Cornwell, Lisa Dent, Ben Campbell and Tom Goodall. Finally, a big thank you to my wonderful dance partner Anton du Beke… because let's face it guys, without him I would be dancing on my own and that would just look silly!!! Plus he keeps my on my toes every night and makes me laugh with his funny stories — he also lets me speak now and again!!

Reviews:
South Wales Argus • Bournemouth Echo • This Is Leicestershire

TRIC Awards and Children's Champions Awards

I went to the TRIC (Television and Radio Industries Club) awards this month. I sat on a table with a bunch of the Strictly people including Felicity Kendall, Brendan, Tess, James, Ola, Anton, Tina O'Brien and a couple of Strictly Execs. and I am pleased to announce that Strictly won the award for Best TV Reality Programme for the 7th Year running!! I even met Peter André, who came over to our table (and to be honest with you he is a lot smaller than I thought he'd be!!).

I also had the pleasure of attending the Children's Champions Awards in London and I must say it was one of the most worthy awards I have ever been to. Congratulations to all winners on the night. Next time I must remember to take a tissue with me.

My Monday Dance Classes

Just to let you know my classes are still running - I even managed to run all my classes whilst performing on the tour (beginners 7:30, improvers 8:45).

Miss Scotland 2011

Anton and I are thrilled to have been invited to host Miss Scotland in June 2011. It will be held in Glasgow and I am going to have to keep an eye on Anton with all those beautiful women around!!

We are quite excited, as the ten finalists will have to learn a ballroom dance routine to perform for the judges and, yes, you guessed it... we will be teaching them! Let's hope that they don't fall off their high heels!!

Christchurch, New Zealand Earthquake

It was so kind and thoughtful of some of you to enquire about my family in NZ. They are all well and safe in the North Island. My heart goes out to all that have suffered and I am glad to say that Brendan Cole's family, who are in Christchurch, are also safe.

Dressing up for Party Time

If you are interested in turning up at a party in a fancy dress designed by me you can go to Fun-Shack and click on the 'Anton & Erin' picture box. There are a number of costumes from the 'Steppin' Out' show. More designs will be coming soon! (Please note though that these are fancy dress costumes and not the real thing!!!!!)

Until next time, lots of love,

Erin X

Hi everyone!

I have been a little busy the last few months, sorry for not blogging sooner!

I wanted you to know I have been thinking of you all, and that I try my best to keep you updated through my 'tweets'. If you aren't already following me please follow me either through the website or Twitter so I can keep you in step with where I am, what I am up to, and what's new!

Strictly Speaking

As Strictly series 8 is now over I'll keep the round-up brief.  I thought this year was one of the best ever, particularly with changes to the format, a great new set and also allowing us the professionals to be slightly more 'adventurous' with the routines - I thought it was great! And just to remind you, I've added a couple of pictures below.

Even though I was eliminated early (week 4) I had a wonderful time with Peter Shilton and was so pleased to have the opportunity to dance with a true football legend. Thank you Peter!

Christmas Special

I also had the great pleasure of performing on last year's Christmas special with Vince Cable the Business Secretary and Twickenham MP. I had heard about his love of dancing as it has been well publicised: he's been social dancing for many years and he told me that it gives him a great release from his busy lifestyle, and that he thoroughly enjoys it. When a man takes hold of you, you want to feel relaxed and don't want to worry that he'll step on your feet: I needn't have worried on that score with Vince, I was confident in his arms from the start.

I told him, "I do want you to have fun, but I also want you to go out there and be competitive!"

The most important thing for me was that I wanted him to be really proud of his performance. I only had seven, one-hour training sessions to teach Vince the Foxtrot, before taking to the dance floor to impress the judges. Although he was a little nervous at first he quickly found his feet and it was great fun from start to finish... and we finished runners-up in the celebrity 2010 Christmas Special!

On the Road with 'Puttin' On The Ritz'

I am now on the road again and living out of a suitcase – well – not just one suitcase, we actually have to take two cars to carry all of our outfits! Anton and I are currently taking our new show across the UK and Ireland, and so far we've performed in theatres in Northampton, London, Leicester, Liverpool, Sheffield and Stoke on Trent. While you are reading this we will probably be in Belfast or Dublin and approaching the end of the third week of our 8-week tour.

The show is very hard work, and physically and mentally tiring but we both love it. We are joined on stage by four talented dancers, and this year our fabulous singer is Lance Ellington from the Strictly Come Dancing band. Our very large live orchestra plays a range of music by such greats as Leonard Bernstein and Cole Porter - it’s a fast show and we have some breathtaking numbers.

As a special treat this year I have added a little song and dance routine to the ensemble… yes you read it correctly, I am singing! Who would've thought it! It’s not as daunting as one would expect, actually I really enjoy it.

Click the image above to download the full list of tour dates and venues for 'Puttin’ on the Ritz, and if you haven’t already got tickets you can book them at Raymond Gubbay's website.

Monday Dance Classes

I have resumed my dance classes at Kingston Dance Studio every Monday between 7.30 and 10pm. If you've got the dancing bug, or just want to give it a go, come down and join in. We have beginners and intermediate lessons so all abilities are welcome – and everyone is very friendly. Beginners start at 7.30 and improvers at 8.45, no need to bring a partner, just come along and have fun.

Ok, I promise I won't leave it so long next time before updating my blog, but in the mean time don’t forget to follow me on twitter. For now I will leave you with one of my very favourite moments from Strictly 2010.

Lots of love,

Erin X
P.S. Please feel free to add your comments, as I often come on and read them all!