Brian Conley: Strictly exit speech was ‘having a laugh’
He said he wanted to lift people’s spirits after he was given the boot.
Brian Conley has said the minutes after his elimination from Strictly Come Dancing were “like a funeral” and he was anxious to diffuse the situation by cracking jokes about the judges and the show’s toilet facilities.
The entertainer lost out in the dance-off to TV chef Simon Rimmer at the weekend and said he wanted to cheer up people who were sad to see him go.
He denied his exit speech was a “rant”, adding: “I was having a laugh and that is all it was, it was a wonderful time.”
“Typical me, I’m an entertainer, I wanted to make people laugh.”
He continued: “The judges looked so miserable and upset that I said ‘I want you all to know I love this man’, talking to Craig, and then Darcey was really emotional and she looked very upset, and I didn’t know what to say.
“Just to cheer her up, I said ‘Darcey, you’re very horny’, and of course everyone laughed and it was a bit of fun.
“I said ‘It’s the toilets, they have got to sort them out. Just buy 10 quid’s worth of bleach to get rid of that smell’. And that was that.
“And then I thanked my brother, because my brother is the floor manager, he’s been there right from the beginning, and I said the wonderful thing about being on this show is that every single person has come up to me and said ‘I love your brother’ and it meant so much and made me realise how respected and loved he is.”
Conley denied he wanted to be axed from the show because of a commitment to a pantomime, pointing out his theatre run does not start until the last week of Strictly.
“I can’t even walk as good as Aston, let alone dance.”
He added: “I’ve taken all this time off so if anyone needs a fete opening, I am available.”
Conley also cracked a joke about people mistaking him for a new Doctor Who companion, saying: “I am not taking over in Doctor Who, which is what everyone has assumed now, that’s Bradley Walsh.”
