Bill Bailey: 'Winning Strictly was life changing for me'

The comic, actor, musician and all-round polymath will be bringing his latest show, Bill Bailey: Vaudevillean, to Leeds next month, followed by dates in Sheffield and Hull later in the year.

He says that Yorkshire is close to his heart, and he has many friends and family in the county. “I love Yorkshire. Very much so. I’ve made lots of programmes, and TV walking shows there. I’ve been mountain biking, hiking and all the rest of it,” he says.

Already known for the quirky Channel 4 comedy Black Books and BBC’s QI, and for cameos in movies like Hot Fuzz, Bailey, 61, was catapulted to nationwide fame in 2020 when he took home the Strictly Come Dancing Glitterball Trophy with his professional partner Oti Mabuse, beating much younger rivals.

Contestants often call the show life-changing. Was it the same for him?

He pauses and then nods: “Yes. Something I think profoundly shifted a bit as a result. Partly because it’s sort of going out of your comfort zone and doing well, but also because of the experience of it.

"It toughens you up a bit. It was a big thing to take on, and it was physically tough, but I surpassed all my own expectations, and I hope, proved age is no barrier.”

The new series of Strictly started last month, and this year Yorkshire dog trainer Graeme Hall, known as The Dogfather, is competing and, at 60, is one of the show’s older contestants.

“I hope he does well. It’s been all change at Strictly, but there’s no harm in that. I always think it’s a good idea to refresh a long-running show.”

Bailey’s latest show was inspired by a reviewer’s comment during his last tour describing him as “a modern-day vaudevillean”.

“And I thought: ‘Yes, that’s it. Why haven’t I realised that before?’ So I’m leaning more into that,” he says.

“Vaudeville was the original live entertainment, and it has a fascinating history. It’s very much what I do anyway; it’s about playing interesting instruments for people and showing them exotic things from around the world, with a mixture of different kinds of comedy.

"There are jokes, stand-up, storytelling, audience participation, and sing-alongs, as well as visuals, a bit of dance and personal history. A whole range of things.”

With his hectic touring schedule, he is aware of both his physical and mental health and keeps fit with regular exercise.

“Biking is a big love – and walking. And I paddleboard occasionally too,” he says.

He first got into the sport through a club based in Kew Bridge near his west London home, where he lives with his wife, former costume designer Kristin Bailey, and their son Dax, 22, a scuba diving instructor.

He admits he is health-conscious after losing his beloved Welsh mum Madryn to bowel cancer in 2005 when she was 74.

“What it has taught me is to get tested and talk about health problems. Men are often very bad at that. It made me think about my life. That I couldn’t take my health for granted.

“I’m fortunate that my wife, Kris, is a great cook, and we eat a lot of Asian food when I’m at home. I keep an eye on my weight, as it can creep on me, particularly when I’m on tour. I do a lot of walking.

"I love it, and there are so many benefits. If I’m away, particularly in Australia, if I get a day off, I will go hiking in one of the many parks.

"That’s hugely important for my mental health because touring is exhausting, and you can be tempted to just stay in your hotel room and vegetate. But it’s crucial that you don’t. I make a point of always going for a walk.”

He still dances as well, but adds: “It’s not the same without a partner like Oti.”

But the South African dancer is still very much part of his life. He says that one of the great things to come out of Strictly has been his enduring close friendship with her.

“I think friendship is underestimated these days. It’s such a strong, powerful bond we have,” he says, adding that Oti, who is pregnant with her second baby, was coming for dinner with her family at his home a few days after our interview.

Work is important to him, but family and friends are the centre of his life, although his son Dax was, as he puts it, “a bit of a surprise development”.

“My wife Kris and I had tried for kids for years, and nothing had happened. Then unexpectedly Kris fell pregnant.”

Father and son are close, and Dax sounds like a chip off the old block. “I love the outdoors, and so does he. He loves camping and hiking and doing all those kinds of things. We’re very close.”

He met Kristin nearly 40 years ago in 1987 after one of his gigs in Edinburgh. She was at the venue with friends and came up to him and said that she had enjoyed the show.

“We had a good conversation, and then after a night out in Edinburgh with her and her friends, I ended up back at her flat, and I slept on her sofa.

"There was no hanky panky. In the morning I said, ‘Cheerio’, and that was that. But then I wrote to her to thank her for putting me up. And she wrote back.

“We then communicated by letter for a year, which seems impossibly quaint now, but letters flowed back and forth, and I do think that’s why our relationship has worked. That’s part of it.

"We got to know each other slowly through correspondence before we even got together. I would wait for her letters.

"Then finally, she moved from Edinburgh and came to live with me on my houseboat in London with her dog.”

They tied the knot while travelling and visiting the tiny Indonesian island of Banda in 1998.

“We’d been together ten years, and we were there on an adventure – just the two of us – and we found this little church on the island and got married on a whim. We do get on so well,” he smiles.

“We’re definitely different, but then we also have a similar outlook on life.”

So what are his plans for the rest of the year? “I’m touring in Australia before I do my dates in the UK and then, at the end of this year, I have a West End theatre residency before going to Europe next year.

"I still love touring to different places. Putting a show together and performing it in front of a crowd is one of my great pleasures.”

There will also be another series of Extraordinary Portraits with Bill Bailey on the BBC next year, and other projects are bubbling under.

He loves to be busy, and with Dax still living at home, he enjoys having his son’s many friends over.

“I don’t want to start being one of those older guys always moaning about things, and I do think one of the ways to prevent that is to talk to young people. I never want to sound jaded and a bit of a grump. I refuse with every cell of my body to become like that.”

Bill Bailey’s Vaudevillean is touring from 5 November to 13 December 2026, calling at Leeds First Direct Arena (28 Nov), Sheffield Utilita Arena (2 Dec) and Hull Connexin Live (4 Dec).