Ore Oduba reveals how Strictly Come Dancing success gave him the ‘golden ticket’ to step back from TV

Ore Oduba revealed how his Strictly Come Dancing success gave him the ‘golden ticket’ to step back from presenting roles and revive his dream of becoming a stage star. 

The TV presenter, 39, who was known predominantly as a presenter before his Glitterball win eight years ago, always felt that something in his life was missing.

In an exclusive interview with The Sun, he said: ‘Definitely Strictly helped me realise the truth. I thought I’d died a long time ago as a kid. So I feel very lucky in this job. I’m doing something that I never thought that was even possible.’ 

Ore first took to the stage as an eight-year-old boy in a school production, singing in front of parents and pupils. 

Bitten by the performance bug, he srarred in amateur shows until he was 17. 

But his dream of treading the boards professionally quickly died after he left education, with no conversation forthcoming about how he could pursue it as a career. 

The TV presenter, 39, who was known predominantly as a presenter before his Glitterball win eight years ago, always felt that something in his life was missing (pictured with Joanne Clifton 2016)

In a new interview, he said: ‘Definitely Strictly helped me realise the truth. I thought I’d died a long time ago as a kid. So I feel very lucky in this job. I’m doing something that I never thought that was even possible’ (pictured 2016)

He continued: ‘That was it, until doing Strictly. It was like getting knocked on the head and the birds are tweeting around you going, “oh, hold on a minute, this is what I used to do.”‘

He then added: ‘Don’t get me wrong, I’ve never done it in this environment, but this was like my first love.’ 

He also confessed that if he and Joanne Clifton had not won the 2016 series then he doesn’t think he would have pursued his dream career. 

Ore added that he ‘loved performing on Strictly’ and knew that he had something ‘very special that not many people had’ which was a ‘little golden ticket’ to use. 

For two years, Ore hosted the Strictly arena tour, speaking in front of thousands of fans and even taking part in a few dance routines too. 

Claiming most people would ‘run to the hills’ Ore confessed that he loves being on stage in front of lots of people and that it gave him the confidence to make the leap. 

While he certainly felt no shame in being a presenter, after Strictly he became aware of his place in the TV pecking order. 

He admitted he spent two-and-a-half years post Strictly working a lot but was never offered a job. 

Ore added that he ‘loved performing on Strictly’ and knew that he had something ‘very special that not many people had’ which was a ‘little golden ticket’ to use

He added that if he didn’t have something that was a ‘passion of my own’ then he would just go on the ‘scrap heap’ which would be the end of his career. 

Though the BBC show might have been his ‘golden ticket’ to reviving his dream of becoming a stage star, that didn’t stop him from having to prove himself time and time again once doors started to open. 

He has grafted in Grease, Cinderella, and The Rocky Horror Show, to name a few, before achieving lead status. 

He claimed that he had to ‘work my a** off’ to get to a point where he knew he could be an ‘asset to any company’. 

The star confessed that the decision to throw himself on stage and ‘see what happens’ was ‘quite easy’ and now, eight years later, he is set to take on his first lead role in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Ore will be taking over the role of Caractacus Potts, made famous by Dick Van Dyke in 1968, from stage favourite Adam Garcia.