Flavia Cacace's blog by Flavia_Cacace

Sorry for not writing for a while. Once Strictly starts it is so full on, there is all the training, the rehearsals, the group dances to work out and practice and then the shows. To give you an idea, after the launch show last week, Jimi and I trained all day Monday. This is when I go through the basics of the routine which was the foxtrot. On Tuesday I was up early for professional rehearsals, then I went on to training with Jimi. Jimi is great because he works so hard but, at the same time, we don't stop laughing.

He is already quite fit but he is already losing weight so he keeps treating himself to chocolate swirls! I've told him its important to eat a healthy diet and refuel properly so I gave him a few of my Maximuscle recovery shakes! We have trained every day for at least 4 hours a day and then on Thursday we had to go to the BBC for It Takes Two. Friday morning I was up at 6 am to get to a final practice with Jimi, then it was on to the BBC studios where we then get to dance our routine with the live band for the first time.

This can be really hard for the celebrities. As professional dancers, we are used to changes in the music, but it's hard for a beginner to suddenly get used to the change in timing from the track on the CD to live music. I had to ask the band to make a few changes, as I had picked out certain beats in the song to go with the choreography and they were getting lost when it was performed live. On Saturday we got to the studios at 8am so it's a really long day, but we were both so excited about the show. We had a great week in training and Jimi really loves it and couldn't wait to dance. We were the last couple to perform our routine, so we had to sit through all 13 of the other dances which is hard after such a long day. Jimi had a bit of a panic and thought he'd forgotten his routine.

I don't think the Red Bull he was drinking helped much either!. I wanted to calm him down so we went out into one of the corridors outside the studio to run through it and I banged my head on the stairs. Jimi thought it was so funny he laughed so much his panic attack ended and he was fine! We loved our dance and it went so well. We are having such great fun and the show was really good with so many great performances. It's great to get all your messages of support. We were so happy afterwards - thank you to all of you. Jimi was FAB, I was so so proud.  It was a real shock to everyone that Goldie went out - he is so lovely it was sad to see him leave the show. It reminds you that you are never safe, so though we enjoyed Saturday we had to go straight back to work on Sunday to get ready for this week's rumba. See you then. Hope you enjoy it! Flavia x