Strictly’s Tony Adams pops up at the panto!
HE thought he’d put the risk of further public ridicule behind him after this year’s Strictly Come Dancing... but oh no he hadn’t.
For when Tony Adams went to see his former dance partner Katya Jones appear in panto, there was only one way it could end.
The ex-England footballer, 56, was pelted with popcorn and then dragged up on stage.
Adams and fellow Strictly star Helen Skelton, 39, were in the audience at the Middleton Arena in Rochdale on Wednesday to see Miss Jones play the Wicked Queen in a production of Snow White. But if Adams believed his own entertainment career was over, he was in for a surprise.
Cast member Callum Arnott spotted the former Arsenal captain, who wore a dapper grey three-piece suit, sitting in the stalls with a bucket of popcorn.
Arnott tipped some of the popcorn over Adams, then, to the delight of the audience, dragged him up on stage where he had to attempt to catch kernels in his mouth.
He also tried on one of pantomime dame Matthew Siveter’s bright orange wigs. After the show – the final performance of the panto’s season – Adams and Miss Skelton posed for photographs with Miss Jones and other members of the cast.
The Russian dancer, 33, who joined the show at the end of this year’s Strictly, posted images on Instagram later and wrote: ‘Thank you panto land for another season of magic!
‘I loved every single moment on stage with these fabulous people. Thank you to everyone who came to watch and support us and for all the boooos! Now Wicked Queen has had enough of being horrible, back to being nice!’
Adams had enjoyed mixed fortunes during his Strictly adventure with Miss Jones, whom he accused of being too critical of his efforts.
He wowed BBC viewers with his striptease samba to You Sexy Thing from The Full Monty, even if he failed to impress the judges.
He became used to filling the bottom place on the leader board, earning only 15 points out of 40 for his tango in the opening week.
Later in the series, his jive was dismissed as a ‘technical disaster’ by judge Craig Revel Horwood.
Fans’ votes kept Adams in until week eight, when he decided to withdraw – citing a hamstring injury – rather than perform in the dance-off.
‘Technical disaster’