Strictly Come Dancing favourites Ian Waite and Vincent Simone have joined forces for their new show The Ballroom Boys - a night packed with dance, song - and loads of banter! Ian tells Joanna Davis what the audience can expect from this Weymouth-bound show next week.

OUT of the many professional dancers who have competed on Strictly Come Dancing, Ian Waite is certainly one of the most memorable.

Despite leaving the show after the seventh series, the tall and striking blond is well known for his witty repartee with the judges (think similar to that of Anton Du Beke) and appearing on weeknight Strictly companion show It Takes Two with Zoe Ball.

Ian, 48, has now teamed up with fellow ex-Strictly pro Vincent Simone for The Ballroom Boys, which calls into Weymouth Pavilion on Thursday. The partnership came about quite by chance, he tells me.

He said: "Last year I danced with Oti Mabuse on tour but she's now on The Greatest Dancer and couldn't do a tour because of her commitment to the TV show. Two years before that I danced with Natalie Lowe, the Australian dancer on Strictly, but this year I was struggling because I couldn't think of any girls that I could dance with. Then I was asked if I had thought about doing the show with another professional boy.

"It got me thinking! One of my great friends is Vincent Simone, he came to my wedding and we've been good friends for a while. His partner Flavia had taken a year out and wanted to do other things.

"I phoned Vincent up when he was on holiday in Spain and told him I had this idea. I told him about the concept of the show, with lots of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, Top Hat and lots of rat pack stuff in it. He loved the idea and we found a really great producer with the Strictly Theatre Company that does stuff like Giovanni Pernice's show. I've worked with them before and they were really keen to hear about the project. It's felt like a long time coming."

There are so many Strictly-associated shows out there, Ian says, but Ballroom Boys offers something different.

Recently Ian said he dropped in on Anton du Beke and his partner Erin's show while in Bournemouth for a friend's birthday.

"I was just sitting there and of course Anton picked me out from the crowd and started taking the mickey!"

Ian is even happy to admit he was there to 'spy' on Anton's show!

He said: "Their shows are so much bigger than ours and they have a 28-piece orchestra, lots of dancers and two singers, our show is much more intimate.

"Rather than thinking of our show as a dance show we think of it more as a variety show. There are parts where we're talking and there are sections where we talk about Strictly behind the scenes and there are fun things that me and Vincent do together, it's quite fun the two of us together, a bit like Little and Large! There's plenty of audience participation, we invite people to come and dance with us and there's a Q&A session. We've purposely chosen smaller theatres because our show is quite an intimate one and we've chosen smaller theatres. We want to include the audience and make them feel like part of the show.

"A lot of the other shows tend to be just dancing without the talking and we offer something completely different. We do all different genres, we do the ballroom stuff, we do vibrant Latin numbers and then do these dramatic dances that everyone knows and loves like the Paso Doble - there's plenty for people to see, it's a real variety show."

Ian is looking forward to taking the show to Weymouth. He's a fan of the beaches in neighbouring county Devon and says he loves staying at the Saunton Sands Hotel and spending time at Woolacombe beach.

Ian had an extremely successful Strictly career, joining the show for its second series and reaching the final with Zoe Ball. His partnership with Zoe Ball, Radio 2's breakfast show host, continues to this day with Strictly spin-off It Takes Two.

But does he miss the competitive element of competing as a pro dancer? I ask

He said: "I've now been on Strictly It Takes Two for as long as I was on Strictly. I would love to go back on the main show as a partner or a judge or maybe with my own section on the results show, something like 'Ian's Insight'. I really did love my time on the show. I miss being part of the Saturday night live shows, they were so exciting to do."

Ian, who started dancing aged 10, modestly thinks much of his career has been down to 'being lucky'.

"When I was the European champion I just felt incredibly lucky. I think it's a case of always being in the right place at the right time. I was living in Holland, I was the Dutch champion out there and moved back to the UK and during the first season of Strictly I got to know the producers and the rest is history as I joined the show in the second series.

"A lot of people used to say to me 'how can you make a living out of being a ballroom dancer?' They don't say that to me any more!"

Although Ian got married in July 2017 to Virgin Atlantic pilot Drew Merriman, it has only been the last few months that he has really been able to sit back and enjoy married life.

"It was such a stressful time," Ian remembers.

"We got married and at the same time we were having the house renovated and it took over a year to be completed and then Drew got his new job with Virgin Atlantic. Luckily things have calmed down now and it's lovely to have more time now. Recently we went to the Maldives for a week which was like a dream come true, it was the perfect honeymoon for us."

And proof that real friendships have been forged on the show comes from many of Strictly's dancers and celebrities from earlier series attending Ian's wedding.

He said: "It was very old school. A lot of the original pros were there. My former partners Zoe Ball and Denise Lewis came. I've come to know Zoe well and we've become good friends and we still work together now doing Strictly It Takes Two. She's a really special woman and she cares about everyone."

As for the nation's love affair with Strictly, Ian just hopes it will continue.

"I remember when I started doing Strictly my dad said to me 'you'll be lucky to get a couple of series out of it.'

"And 15 years later it's still the biggest show on TV, it's a great concept. It's sparkly Saturday night entertainment and it's quite wholesome television - it's all about the thrill of watching people learn to dance."

*Ian Waite and Vincent Simone, The Ballroom Boys, Weymouth Pavilion, Thursday, May 23, 7.30pm. Call the box office for tickets.