By Jessica Sansome

Copyright manchestereveningnews

Stefan Dennis could have had a secret weapon when it came to his Strictly Come Dancing stint – if he didn’t brush off the attempts of his wife to dance with him. The Neighbours legend is among the 15 celebrities who have signed up to take part in the BBC One dance contest this year, which gets underway this Saturday (September 20). Stefan, who is famed for playing Paul Robinson in the Australian soap, created the role for the first episode in 1985 and appeared in over 6,000 episodes during the 40 years that the show was on air. But he’s now looking forward to people seeing the real him, away from his soap alter-ego. When asked what people would be most surprised to see about him in Strictly, he told the Manchester Evening News: “Probably me not being an a**ehole.” After he laughed, he added: “That’s what many people know me as. Even though I’ve played lots of other characters, the one that they know me the most for is somebody that’s not very nice and a bit selfish and a bit of a bugger. “That’s not why I’m doing it, but I’m hoping that they will actually get to see the real Stefan Dennis as opposed to a character.” Despite his other roles within the acting and performing space, the soap star told how he hasn’t any dancing experience. “The only dance training I ever had was when I was about two-foot high – very basic dance for a very short time and I’ve forgotten it all.” Stefan also spoke about his wife, Gail Easdale, who was a professional dancer as well as well as a former colleague as she played his business nemesis Julie Quill in Neighbours in 2016 and then reprised the role in 2021. He revealed to us: “She taught me how to do Kaylee dances for our wedding.” But it hasn’t given him any advantage. “I’ve got to say I’ve been, not now obviously, but in the early part [of our relationship] when she was wanting to teach me [to dance], I was sticking my head in the sand. “I always found an excuse… She did give me some basic stuff, which is good. I’ve got to keep my shoulder down…” Stefan was also impressed by the support around him and his fellow Strictly stars, ad he admitted: “Everybody here is so supportive, on every single level we’re dealing with. “It’s not just our dancers, everybody is like, ‘No, you can do it’, ‘No you’re great’, ‘You’ve got this, you’ve got that, we’ve got you’… We all feel that we are absolutely 200% supported.” Strictly Come Dancing returns to BBC One and BBC iPlayer on Saturday, September 20, at 6.40pm for its launch show