04/04/2026
As most of you know I used to be a competitive ballroom and Latin dancer with my husband. In 2022 we both ‘retired’ after his knee replacement and my 7th surgery on my right ankle and it was time to put that story to rest.
However, a year or so after his recovery there was a restlessness that set in and he decided he wanted to get back into dance…and properly. I decided to and focus on building my business and retraining but didn’t want to hold him back, so we started searching for a partner.
Fast forward to December 2024 when our good friend Mandy was partnerless and they decided to tryout and give it a go. Here they are many months later after a very successful 1st year together.
We’ve know Mandy since 2017 when we met at the same dance school and she had a different partner then. We competed against each other for 6 years until we ‘retired’. Now this partnership has formed and they are soaring high and I couldn’t be prouder.
Proud is an understatement really. There has been ups and downs and health has got in the way at times but it hasn’t stopped them.
Nothing is ever impossible to do. It may be hard and there may be bumps along the way but with a healthy positive lifestyle, body and outlook, you can achieve anything you want.
I’m usually there on the road with them as Tour Manager but not to be on this occasion. A norovirus type bug has kept me at home watching from afar. I honestly can’t wait to see where this journey will go.
Love you both ❤️🪩💃🏻🕺🏻🏅
WDC-AL Open to the world European Championships at the world famous Empress Ballroom in Blackpool.
What can I say. Just a year ago, this was our second ever competition together and we set it as a benchmark to mark our progress over the year.
And what progress it has been.
We didn’t make the finals of the Prechamp ballroom but not from lack of effort. We danced our hearts out but sadly that final was just too far out of reach for us this year.
The O50’s ballroom is where we saw the most progress. We didn’t make it out of the first round last year but this year we made it to the semi final and got to dance to the empress orchestra again - which is always special.
Again, we didn’t make it to the final six but I can hand on heart say that we could not and have never danced better together than we did in that semi final. We left everything we had on the floor. Was it perfect? Heavens no, but with the skills and knowledge we have at this moment in time we gave ourselves a fighting chance - sadly it wasn’t to be, the other couples were just a little too good for us on the day!
As my mother used to say, “There’s no such thing as a loser in competition - you win or you learn!”
We have learned a LOT from the experience and we are using it as a springboard for the rest of this year. If we can make the same incremental improvements over this year as we have over the last… look out world, we’re coming for ya!
We also laid down our benchmark for the Latin finishing 5th in the Prechamp. I have to say, I love being back in the Latin side.. I’ve really missed it. Time to knock off the rust and bad habits I’ve picked up over the last 4 years (8 for Mandy) and start dancing ‘properly’ (😜) again… 10 dance. Full cannon. Aw man, we cannot wait to get started.
Thank you Blackpool. Thank you to all our competition for keeping on showing up and thank you for being immense and making us want to be better.
Europeans, it’s been emotional.
