Dancer Brendan Cole is waltzing into Blackburn on June 9 with his own show, Live and Unjudged. He told us about his diverse fan base, getting married and his fears about getting the cha-cha-chop from Strictly Come Dancing.

THE first dance for most brides and grooms is as important as the vows and the venue.

But for Strictly Come Dancing’s Brendan Cole, a perfectly choreographed presentation is bottom of the list of priorities for his upcoming wedding day.

“For those expecting the first dance to end all first dances, they’ll be disappointed,” said the 33-year-old professional ballroom dancer.

“Craig Revel Horwood (Brendan’s arch enemy on the show) might be there but he won’t be there to judge this time.

“We’ll be doing the usual swaying around like every other couple. Zoe isn’t a dancer and I want a day off.

"I’ll be all danced out and hanging up my dancing shoes for a few months.

"It’s our day, not a show,” said Brendan, who’ll marry model Zoe Hobbs this summer.

But before he ties the knot Brendan is in the middle of 20--plus date tour of his very own show, Live and Unjudged.

He’s ditched the Strictly panel and hit the road with four former Strictly professionals, Nicole Cutler, Izabela Hannah, Andrew Cuerden and Hanna Haraala, as well as his brother Scott Cole, who offers an insight into the true Brendan with an audience question and answer session.

Accompanying the dance show with a difference is a world class 14-piece band of musicians playing anything from opera to Robbie Williams and everything in between.

But even though the tough BBC judges are nowhere to be seen, Brendan says there is a whole new panel to impress now.

“The audience has paid good money to see you perform and that’s a lot of pressure. For Strictly I’m only a small part, and with this its all on me — two hours of 500-2,000 people waiting to be entertained by you. It’s fairly full-on,” admitted Brendan, who has danced since the age of six.

“So far on tour women seem to quite like heckling me. They’re just having fun but I feel like a comedian. I’m not sure what to do.”

And it’s not just the ladies who have been coming out to get up close and personal with Brendan.

“There was a chap in the audience last week who was covered in tattoos and would be the kind of guy who I wouldn’t want to meet at stage door,” he laughed.

“I just had to chat to him in the question and answer section.

"I’d been watching him smiling and clapping all the way through. I said to him ‘are you sure you’re at the right show mate’.

“He even emailed me to say thank you for a such a brilliant night.

"I love hearing from people who have enjoyed my show. It makes you feel good.

"Another woman got in touch to say her 93-year-old mum was still talking about the show a week after she’d been,” said Brendan.

After a childhood of competitions the New Zealand-born dancer’s big break came in 1996 when he moved to London and met his dance partner, Danish-born Camilla Dallerup.

Brendan’s fan base rocketed after joining Strictly Come Dancing in 2004 when he became known as the ‘bad boy of ballroom’, a tag which comes from his strops with the show's judges and his tendency to sneak extra lifts into his routines.

But Brendan revealed his future on the country’s biggest dance show is uncertain.

Strictly bosses are rumoured to be looking at changing as many as six professional dancers, with talk about bringing over Cheryl Cole's pal Derek Hough from Dancing With The Stars in the US.

And Brendan thinks his cards are marked because of his antics on the show.

He said: "None of us have been contracted as yet. The BBC is looking to change things I believe, which is a shame for those of us who are involved. We don’t really know what’s happening and obviously not all of us can stay.

“My problem might be the fact I kick off all the time. I don’t like my chances but I don’t want to leave.”

But for now Brendan is busy learning a new skill — singing — and he’ll be treating audiences to a few musical numbers while he’s on the road.

“I love singing. It breaks up the dancing. I can sing and hold a note but I'm not the best singer.

"I certainly wasn’t last night. I’ve got a bit of a throat infection so some of the notes wouldn’t quite come out.

“I’m not a trained singer and I don’t pretend to be. I’ll make that perfectly clear now. Its a good way to scare myself a bit, there’s a touch of putting myself out of my comfort zone.”

And Brendan is looking forward to bringing his show to Blackburn for the first time.

“The further north you go, the naughtier they get, so the crowd interaction part becomes all the more fun,” he said. “On Strictly you don't get the chance to show your true personality.

"They portray you how they want to. With the show I'm doing now, I'm talking to the audience as well as dancing.

"It's a nice way to interact and show your true side.”

And if you get a ticket you might even have the chance to strut your stuff on stage too.

"There's audience participation if anyone wishes to come up and learn some moves," Brendan teased.

* Brendan Cole Live and Unjudged is at King George’s Hall, Blackburn on Wednesday, June 9. For details, contact the box office on 0844 847 1664.