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Duo set for spotlight again as Strictly Come Dancing starts
Sally Cope SHEFFIELD dancing duo Darren Bennett and Lilia Kopylova will be partnering celebrities for hit BBC1 show Strictly Come Dancing tonight.
Now in its third series, the show has propelled the pair into the spotlight, with Darren taking the title last year alongside EastEnders actress Jill Halfpenny.
This year he is partnering Gloria Honeyford, while his wife will be hoping to dance her way to the final with Yorkshire cricketer Darren Gough.
Darren's father Tony Bennett, who runs the City Limits Dancentre in Walkley, Sheffield, said interest in learning to dance was at an all-time high.
"We have had a lot of young couples come wanting to learn how to dance the classic dances, which is brilliant because they are the future of dancing.
"They do it because they want to keep fit and it has lost its old image. Strictly Come Dancing is the best thing that has happened for dancing since Saturday Night Fever."
Mr Bennett said the new show would offer a few surprises, although he was yet to see the programme due to be screened tonight.
"It is new celebrities and new dancers and the series has been extended, so it is going to be a different type of competition this year.
"Darren has been rehearsing every day with Gloria, she's a lovely lady, and the dancing is looking good. It is all filmed behind closed doors so I haven't seen it yet.
"It has been going very well in rehearsals, but until they actually go on and dance, nobody knows how it will go."
City Limits currently teaches people from aged three upwards to move their feet with style, covering everything from ballroom dancing to rock 'n' roll, and also runs after-school clubs and PE lessons.
"Darren travels all over the world doing his competitive field – he is in the top six in the world," said Mr Bennett. "He has just come back from San Fransisco and is going to Japan next."
But tonight, it will be audiences closer to home who will be willing him on.
Mr Bennett said: "There are lots of people getting together to watch the show in Sheffield. He will have a lot of support."
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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