• 2 days ago
Transcript
00:00Welcome to the Strictly Inverness podcast and today we have John and Mags with us, welcome.
00:15Hi Rachel.
00:16Nice to see you.
00:17It's good to be here.
00:18Lovely to have you in.
00:20What dances are you doing Mags?
00:22We're doing the Charleston and the American Smooth.
00:26So one quite upbeat one and then a slower one isn't it?
00:30How is training going so far John?
00:33It's kind of ups and downs.
00:35It started off getting better and better and then I felt it dipped a wee bit and I realised
00:40that was my own lack of work away from the practice and then I just got my finger out
00:45and practiced more and it's getting better and then that gives you the confidence and
00:50therefore when you're at the lessons you're not so worried about it and you're not making
00:55the same mistakes as you would be, you know.
00:57So yeah, quite happy with where we are now.
00:59So you're putting in lots of extra effort then?
01:01Yeah, definitely.
01:02And how about yourself Mags, how have you found it?
01:05Yeah, it's quite hard going at times, you know, when you're working and trying to fit
01:10in extra practices and group dance as you know, but it's getting there, you know, it's
01:16worth it.
01:17Bit at a time.
01:18Yeah.
01:19And you both have quite an interesting story about Strictly.
01:24Well we'll tell our own dance but we'll do it chronologically.
01:27My daughter Penny was in it in 2022 and she did well, she actually won it.
01:36And then in 23, my son Luke was in it and he did really well as well.
01:43He was third and his partner, and this is when I hand it over to Mags, was…
01:48Jade, my daughter.
01:49So last year it was my son that done it and the year before it was Jade, as John said,
01:56along with Luke and both my kids did get through to the final and done quite good.
02:01So now it's Mother Beer's turn.
02:05Mum, your turn now.
02:07So following the steps of our children.
02:09I mean that must be quite nice because you've obviously seen the whole process before then
02:13and the work they've had to put in.
02:15And did they kind of egg you on to do it or did you just see, oh that looked great and
02:19decide to do it?
02:20No, well, my kids were like, oh mum you'll need to do it, oh I don't know, and yeah
02:26you should.
02:27They've been at me for the last two years to be perfectly honest with you, so I suppose
02:32I've got to give in to them now and see how I go.
02:36Finally said yes.
02:37And how about yourself, John?
02:38Well, both, not just Penny and Luke, but their mother also did it in 2013 I think it was.
02:45So they were at me to complete the set as it was.
02:48And from a standard start, it's something I would never have even thought of doing because
02:53I was well out of my comfort zone.
02:57But yes, there was a bit of egging on.
02:59And then just a few significant things happened in the last six months or a few months leading
03:05up to deciding to do it and I thought, right, I'm doing it this year.
03:10What were those significant things?
03:11Well, in no particular order of, one was if I'm going to do it, I'll do it now because
03:17I'm 60 a few days after the final.
03:20My kid's granny passed away in October and at the funeral they played lots of clips of
03:27her dancing at barbecues and stuff at home and just was a life and soul of the party,
03:33you know.
03:34And at the funeral they were playing that and I thought, I owe you and granny, this
03:39is my chance, you know.
03:43So I decided then, that was kind of just tipping me over the edge.
03:47And one of the competitors on the Friday, I know through work, and I'm in her office
03:54now and again, and she just said, right John, where's the form?
03:57You've been talking about doing this, and there and then she filled in the form for
04:01me and that was it, you know.
04:04So no point or no return, you know.
04:07So a whole combination of factors then.
04:09Yes, yes, definitely.
04:11And do you feel then, you're kind of speaking about granny and the dancing, do you feel
04:15like you've kind of got some connection then or do you feel like you're kind of living
04:20up to it?
04:21Yeah, more even in the past couple of weeks.
04:26Because you know when you've got your lessons, and it's good to have lessons, you know, you're
04:29criticised, which you should be, practical criticism, you're not doing that well, you
04:33clearly haven't practised that, but you're getting the compliments of the things that
04:36you're picking up and you know, yeah, that's because I put the work into that.
04:41So your confidence starts to build, you know, but you don't take your foot off the pedal
04:45and you keep going as well, you keep going and you know how to make it better.
04:49So the bits that are not quite right yet, you know, it's that work that goes into it.
04:54So glad I'm doing it, you know, even though it's just taken up so much time of an already
05:00cluttered and busy life, you know.
05:03I understand.
05:04And Max, has it been more challenging than you thought it would be or?
05:09Probably more challenging, to be honest.
05:12Last year and the year before, I sort of helped along with the fundraising with both my children
05:17and now, obviously, because I'm dancing myself now, as well as fundraising, yeah, it takes
05:24up quite a lot.
05:25It's actually probably more so than I thought it would be, you know.
05:30And talking about fundraisers, you were one of the first people to host a fundraiser.
05:34It started off with your Robert Burns night, wasn't it?
05:37Or St Andrew's night?
05:38Robert Burns night in January, Rachel, yes.
05:41Yeah, so that was my first one.
05:45And then it's just, I don't know, I've got about four or five in April.
05:49So it's like, April's going to be so busy for me because I've just got so many of them
05:54on the go.
05:55So this Friday, actually, I've got a sound bath with Jan Barkley and that's over at the
06:01Inverness Eye Centre.
06:03The night after that, a psychic night in the Chief Den with Barry Hogg.
06:09And then I'm going to have like a sort of jumble sale sort of thing on the 13th.
06:13The end of the month, a race night and the end of the month, a children's event, probably
06:21in Dalnew Primary School.
06:22You have a lot going on.
06:24So there's a lot going on in April, yeah.
06:26So how, I mean, has it been hard planning all the events?
06:29Has that been more challenging than dancing?
06:32No, I'd say the dance is probably more challenging, to be honest.
06:36Probably the dancing.
06:38You know, like, as John says, like, he's coming on 60 and I'm nearly there myself only a couple
06:44of years off it.
06:45So I'm 60 next year, actually.
06:47So it's, the body's not as good now, do you know what I mean?
06:50So, but we'll get there.
06:52You will.
06:53You will.
06:54So you've got lots coming up in April.
06:55Yeah.
06:56How about yourself, John?
06:57Fundraiser-wise?
06:58Well, that's what I'm still behind with, to be honest, and it's because I'm plate spinning
07:05just now with so many things.
07:07Lots of reason, not an excuse, but I've actually just stopped some of the things to make space.
07:12And I've got a fundraiser coming up on the 25th of April, so I'm doing a race night and
07:19some music there, doing live music.
07:21I'm a part-time rock star myself, you know, and so there'll be some live music at a race
07:27night in the Cali Club on the 25th.
07:32I was at Mangrove last week to see if I could play the piano in there and just put a QR
07:38code on the tables, but they've not come back to me.
07:43And I'm going to try and do that in Simpsons, just put a QR code, a little thing saying,
07:48you know, your penis is playing free and donate it to the thing.
07:52So that's another thing.
07:53And we're going to get the bumblebee thing from, so we're going to work out a date for
07:57that.
07:58I'm away this weekend, but probably the next weekend we can get it and make donations.
08:03The people who have donated to me are not very many people, but they've been big donations
08:07to get me to where I am.
08:10And I haven't even tried the work route and through my job.
08:14There's lots of builders, merchants and plant hire companies and that I give business to
08:19all the time.
08:20So I'm going to the begging bowl with them, because the one thing I find with it all is,
08:25and I'm sure everybody can test it, is you're going with the begging bowl to the same people
08:29all the time.
08:30You want to sell a raffle ticket to your granny and you want her to go to your function and
08:35your cousins and your, you know, so that there's only so many people.
08:39So I have to try and do it wider spread to get the more people to, I'd rather have people
08:46donated big once than keep going with a 20 quid event here and a raffle ticket there,
08:53you know, to the same people.
08:55Yeah, yeah, I do.
08:56And it's quite hard.
08:57That part of going to ask people for money.
09:00I don't know.
09:01I find that quite hard sometimes and a bit challenging, especially when it is the same
09:05people.
09:06If it's like, oh, are you going to come see me perform, please buy a ticket to come see
09:10me or I'm having this event.
09:12But like you say, everybody has been so generous, I found and really dug deep.
09:18And especially when there's a lot of us in quite a small city, it has been really incredible
09:25to see.
09:26Now, Max, you have obviously spoken about your family having done Strictly Inverness,
09:32but is there more of a reason why you decided to take part in it?
09:36Because it is raising funds for the Highland Hospice and Inverness Ice Centre.
09:39Yeah, well, I have lost like a few family members to cancer and a couple of my friends
09:46were in the hospice.
09:47My brother was up there, just really kind of, he could have been an inpatient, but he
09:53decided really to come back home to Fort William, that's where he passed away, but
09:58he had the chance to stay there.
10:00But, look, I just, I mean, so much admiration for the hospice, to be honest, with everything
10:04they do and, you know, my own children's father died of cancer as well.
10:10So cancer is quite a big thing in our family.
10:13So I feel like, you know, if I can give a little bit back, you know, to, you know, like
10:17the hospice, they help so many people and I think they're just amazing, to be honest.
10:21So, yeah, that's part of the reason as well, you know.
10:25Yeah, there's a lot there.
10:27And John, have you had any experience yourself or?
10:30Yes, I always mention, and the phrase I use is, we all need the hospice directly or indirectly,
10:37you know, and so the hospice here, my father-in-law died in there, that was 1999.
10:46My own mother passed away in a hospice near Stirling, between Stirling and Cumbernauld,
10:53the Strathcarne Hospice.
10:54So I have, you know, experience of that there.
11:00So wherever hospices are, they all need support.
11:04So I'm just glad to support our local one.
11:07Yeah, and give back.
11:09Give back, yeah.
11:10Now, did you both know each other then, before you started this?
11:13No, not really.
11:15Obviously, the night of Luke and Jade, our tables were adjacent to each other and we
11:23knew each other from that, you know, and there would have been those little introductions
11:27and connection, but other than that, never seen each other since sort of thing, you know.
11:33And then did you meet at pairing night then, were you both at pairing night?
11:36Yes.
11:37Uh-huh.
11:38And got matched straightaway?
11:39Well, not straightaway.
11:40We had a couple of different sort of partners to dance with, didn't we?
11:45I think we started off together, then he moved us a couple of times and then put us back
11:49together and then said, right, that's just us.
11:53And how have you found working together?
11:55What do you do to encourage each other?
11:57Have you got a good relationship that you've built?
12:00Yeah, I do, so.
12:03Mag's just looking right behind me.
12:05Really?
12:06I mean, I...
12:08I think we're so similar and so different as well, and those similarities are great
12:13and those differences are great and it helps each other in some ways of our approach to
12:19learning things.
12:20I work in a particular way and Mag's works in a different way, and then I'm seeing the
12:25benefits of how Mag's is suggesting I'll be doing it all the way through, keep doing it.
12:32And I'm very analytical and I look at a bit and I say, what's happening there?
12:36It's quite a life hands on, right?
12:39And then we'll be practising that little bit and then we can back and run all the way through
12:43So it's a combination of our personalities and the way we work, because we all do it.
12:48Every dancer is the same.
12:52I mean, I wrote something out in a little spreadsheet, a geeky way of this particular
12:56move, but I could see that visually and it just sunk into me then, because I could look
13:04at each step in this particular routine, it was very fast.
13:08It was like that move, that move, that move, that move, sitting on a chair with a hat.
13:14And I showed some of the people, they were like, how can you understand that?
13:19So we all work in a different way and absorb information and at the end of the day, the
13:25end result is there, and there isn't a right way or a wrong way, is what suits everybody.
13:31And we are combining what we do, because I'm seeing the benefits of what Mag's is suggesting
13:36and vice versa.
13:39So you're quite an analytical learning style then, and Mag's is you're more kind of a doer.
13:44Yeah, just get in there and do it.
13:46Let's just do it from start to end, and then if we make mistakes, so what?
13:51We'll just go back over it again.
13:54Yeah, sometimes I feel maybe if you just concentrate on one part, you could come the following week
14:00and then we might be like, oh, wait a minute.
14:02Oh, I don't think we remember this bit now.
14:04But if you just go right in and just do it from start to end, and then if we make mistakes,
14:09we can always go back over them, I suppose.
14:12There'll be something like, it just doesn't work, and then I go and watch the video and
14:16it's like, ah, this is my left hand and Mag's is right hand, and Mag's has to turn clockwise.
14:23And the reason I went wrong is because she turned anti-clockwise, or I took the wrong
14:27hand or whatever, you know?
14:28So I look at that and then we just quickly run through that and then, oh yeah, and it's
14:33working better, and then we just run it through.
14:35So yeah, it's a good combination of how we do it, you know?
14:39Yeah, definitely.
14:41And what's the biggest thing you think you've learned about yourself in this process, Mags?
14:46I suppose, like, just never give up.
14:48You will get there in the end, you know what I mean?
14:50You might make a lot of mistakes along the way, but hopefully by the time the final comes,
14:57I would have built up more confidence by then and we'll sail on through to the final, hopefully.
15:03Yes, I love that.
15:04Confident.
15:05Become more confident.
15:08Yeah, resilience and confidence.
15:10That's it.
15:10That's it, Rachel.
15:12And how about yourself, John?
15:14Um, you know, I've never thought about it until you asked Mags there, so my head is
15:18trying to work out.
15:19The things I feared about doing it was, I'm a musician, so when I'm doing gigs and things
15:25like that, quite often I'm just ad-libbing and playing something similar to, and I would
15:31maybe do a guitar bit and a tune and a callums or whatever.
15:35And it's not exactly the same as a record, but it sounds near enough, you know, and I'm
15:38just, and that's the way I like to work.
15:40But when I started music as a boy, I was playing brass band and I was reading every note and
15:47it was that discipline.
15:48I had lost that discipline and I feared the lack of discipline and this is like, I have
15:53to learn not just those moves, not my own version of those moves, those moves, and then
16:00do those ones, then those ones, then those ones, then those ones, and that just put the
16:05fear of life into me.
16:06But I mean, I've not far from perfected that, but I don't fear that anymore.
16:11I know I will get that, I've got that regimentality about it now that it's required, that I feared
16:19I didn't have.
16:20Yeah.
16:21So it's just kind of, that's been reinforced in that you have that.
16:25Yeah.
16:25Yeah.
16:25You put your mind to it, you can store all that information in your head in that order
16:31and just, because I find ways to learn, because I'm watching our videos now and I, we've got
16:39names for all the little bits.
16:40We just make nicknames.
16:42We made a new one today, I can't remember what it was, we said we'll call that, we'll
16:45call that the such and such.
16:46The wings thing.
16:46Yeah, the wings bit.
16:49So I'm watching and I'm like, right, it's wings next, it's that next.
16:54So I'm anticipating ahead, just testing my memory.
16:57So then when I'm on the wings bit, as I'm doing it, you just kind of got to autopilot
17:03to do all these moves.
17:04The mistakes you make is, what do we do after this bit?
17:07So finally, right, it's such and such next, then I get there and onto the next bit, you
17:13know.
17:14I'm saying this here as if I'm weighing sleep or something, but I'm not there fully, but
17:22for sure, there's still several weeks to go.
17:24Time is running out, but it's still plenty, enough time.
17:27And I know at the pace that I'm learning and developing with this, that if I keep at that,
17:34I will be from start to finish everything right through.
17:38And I'm sure it's the same for all 32 competitors.
17:41Yeah, because I think we're now at the point where we've all, probably all finished learning
17:46our dances, or just there about.
17:48And now it's a case of going through it, cleaning it, cleaning it.
17:52And I, for me, for doing this, I was like, I want to get fit while I'm doing Strictly
17:56and Verna, where I find I might have done a little bit.
17:59Now I feel like this is the bit where we're going to get really fit.
18:02We had a group practice on Sunday, just passed, and that was hard work, like running through,
18:10run it through, run it through.
18:11Yeah, that's right.
18:12We all left.
18:13Rewind, rewind, rewind, do it again, do it again.
18:16Sweaty faces.
18:17It's great, though, you know, and I think that's us all starting to know each other
18:21a bit more now as well, which is really nice.
18:25How are you feeling about performance night?
18:27Because it is, we're about six weeks away now, I think.
18:30Mags, how about yourself?
18:31Probably I'm a bit nervous right now, if I'm not going to lie.
18:35I suppose it is what it is right now, isn't it?
18:37You just got to get out there and just do your best and see how things go, I suppose,
18:42on the night.
18:43And enjoy it.
18:44And enjoy it, exactly.
18:46Have fun, that's what it's about, isn't it?
18:48Yeah.
18:49Yeah.
18:49Yeah.
18:49Spend some money for a very good cause.
18:51Exactly.
18:52And how about yourself, John?
18:53You said something really interesting before we sat down, about on the night if something
18:57goes wrong, not to focus on that.
19:01Yeah, because when you make a mistake and you're thinking about that mistake that you've
19:06just made, we're four steps further along the dance, so your head's in the mistake you
19:13made four steps ago.
19:14So you have to just find your way on to where you should be at that moment and completely
19:19the mistake right out of your head, because it's doing you no good to be thinking about
19:23that.
19:24And that's why we've been nicknaming things as well for sections, because I've got this
19:28big smile on my face and I'm saying something like, you know, one and two, three, four,
19:34you know, for a particular move, you know.
19:36And because we've got these names, I've screwed it up, but that's where we're heading.
19:42That's where we should be now, you know, and we got on to it.
19:44So like I say, it's not perfect at all, but that's how, with that in mind, developing
19:50going forward, it will help us a lot, yeah.
19:55Yeah.
19:55And I think that's it.
19:56I think, I don't know, I think any of us will be perfect on the night.
19:59No.
20:00Because it's going to be completely different circumstances from what we've been rushed
20:04and then practicing.
20:05But compared to where we all started in January, to where we are now, you know, we are.
20:11Yeah, improving all the time.
20:13It's always hard to remember who we are, why we're doing this.
20:18You know, none of us are dancers.
20:20Very few of us have done much dance.
20:22I think there's one or two that obviously are more than others.
20:25But, you know, the nearest I've been in dancing is starting about Johnny Fox's, you know,
20:29half cup, you know, to somebody who plays, you know.
20:34Yeah.
20:35No, I know.
20:36And what is it you both do for work?
20:39I'm a support worker with learning disabilities.
20:42And yourself, John?
20:43Contracts manager for a construction company.
20:47So I've worked in construction all my life, you know, started off as an engineer,
20:51working my way through the whole thing.
20:53So, yes, which is pretty hard going.
20:56But at the same time, I've been doing it for 42 years.
20:58So it's kind of just what you do, you know.
21:01Yeah.
21:01You're taking your stride because you built yourself up to that, you know.
21:04So you both have pretty full on jobs then.
21:07Dancing five times a week with your extra ones, plus your fundraisers.
21:13What do you do to unwind?
21:15Well, I've got a recording studio in my house.
21:19And I've been a musician all my life.
21:20And I used to play in pubs and about here.
21:23But I kind of gave up when the lockdown came.
21:26So I spent time there writing and recording music.
21:29And I've released music with my writing partner, Matthew.
21:32Get albums out and stuff like that.
21:34And there's other people I'm working with.
21:36I'm recording their music for them.
21:39And so that's my world of away from everything is music.
21:46But it's pretty full on, you know.
21:48Because I'm coming from work straight to practice, then straight home.
21:52And Sunday's arriving.
21:53I have a sitting to be there till 8 o'clock recording something.
21:56And then the next night, I'm having to do some post-production on that.
22:01Prepare something for the next person.
22:03I've had to cut back in some of that.
22:05Because it has just...
22:07It's made a difference to me here with this, with Strictly.
22:12There's dancing that I'm kind of in.
22:14But these two extra practices we do, I've made space for that, you know.
22:19So it's kind of stripping back a little bit just now for a couple of months.
22:22Yeah.
22:23And then back in.
22:24Yeah.
22:24But the music is your unwind time.
22:27Yeah, it's just a passion.
22:29Anybody that knows me, I mean, you know, I'm just...
22:32I don't just like music, you know.
22:34I live and breathe it, you know.
22:35I write and record music.
22:37And I work for some famous people in music as well.
22:41And, you know, and I like recording with other people and collaborating.
22:48Because it's a good learning thing, you know.
22:50And I just like my brain to be...
22:53Because if I don't, I just fall asleep at night.
22:54I mean, I'm no kidding.
22:57If I sit down, my telly thinks I've got a power cut just now.
23:00Because I'm so busy.
23:02Never on.
23:03Because if I just sit on the couch at night, I'll have my dinners, sit on the couch.
23:06I will be asleep and wake up at like half eight.
23:09And then I'll wake up at quarter past twelve or so.
23:12I'm cold on the couch.
23:16So you've got to keep busy.
23:17Yeah.
23:18Yeah.
23:18And how about yourself, Mags?
23:21Chill out.
23:21I probably just chill out, to be honest, with my friends, family,
23:25when it's over a wee glass of wine, when it's over a coffee.
23:29Or take my grandchildren out somewhere.
23:32Just chill out with them.
23:34They keep me on the straight and narrow.
23:38Or vice versa.
23:41So people and...
23:42People, yes, aye.
23:44Yes.
23:45And who are your sponsors for Taking Part in Strictly?
23:48Who's yours, Mags?
23:49Mine is the collective hair salon in Culloden, which belongs to Amy Cummins.
23:58Amy Cummins.
23:58That's where my daughter, Jade Robertson, works.
24:01My music partner, writing partner, Matthew Donachie,
24:05he has a place in Nairn called St Ninian's House Treatment Rooms.
24:09And Matthew himself has several businesses within their beauty and stuff.
24:14So Matthew's side of that, where he makes false teeth, basically.
24:18And it's not a dentist as such, but he makes false teeth.
24:21And so he's graciously sponsored myself, you know.
24:26So really grateful for that.
24:28Now what we're going to do is our Wheel of Torture.
24:33Our Wheel of Fortune, whatever you would like to call it.
24:35Drum roll.
24:36Drum roll.
24:37So Mags, if you would like to give it a little spin first,
24:41you can turn it a little bit towards yourself.
24:43And if you give it a wee spin.
24:46And you are going to...
24:48So it's surprise.
24:49You pick up the surprise one, which says...
24:52It's the yellow one there, hidden surprise.
24:53Right, okay.
24:54You are going to ask John the question that is on it.
24:57That is a question for him from you.
25:00What's the most unexpected thing you've discovered about me
25:03since we started training together?
25:06I discovered about you?
25:09How dedicated you are to this.
25:11How much you pay to all the fundraisers.
25:14You're constantly at it.
25:17More than, you know, I'm not sure about the rest of the competitors.
25:22It's just intensely relentless.
25:25You know, you're just at it constantly.
25:32My embarrassment almost, because I'm not, you know.
25:36But I'm so glad of it, you know.
25:39And, you know, they're very similar, very different.
25:42And those two things combine really well.
25:46I learn from Mags as well,
25:49as much as I hope she learns things from me, you know.
25:53So...
25:55That was nice, Johnny boy.
25:57It's very nice.
25:58Now yourself, John.
25:59It's your turn to give the wheel a spin.
26:04And we have...
26:04Spotlight.
26:05Spotlight.
26:06So have we got the one there?
26:09What's one quality in me that you think makes our partnership work so well?
26:14That you never give up when it comes to our dancing.
26:18And, like, you're always there and persevering through it.
26:21And, you know, we'll both get there together.
26:24We're always pushing each other on, so it's a good quality to have.
26:28So, you know, if I'm not doing something right, it'll be Mags,
26:31you weren't right there.
26:31Or if you're not doing something right, I'll be,
26:33John, come on, what happened there?
26:35So for persevering, like, no matter how difficult it gets,
26:39between the two of us, we know our steps.
26:41And then we just never give up, so, you know.
26:44You know, it's kind of like, it's not John and Mags.
26:48It's John and Mags.
26:49It's the one thing when we're dancing, you know.
26:51And it's the same for, I'm sure, for the other 15 couples.
26:55You know, it's not about one or the other.
26:58You need each other, not just on the night, but, you know,
27:02working through it.
27:04And I'm sure I'm speaking on behalf of everybody that's doing this.
27:07You know, we're helping each other one way or another.
27:09In fact, if I could just say this,
27:11maybe this was going to be a question I'm going to ask later,
27:13but what I find as well is the camaraderie between everybody.
27:18And yesterday, after our group dance,
27:22so we're in the foyer, Eden Court and Mags,
27:25she's doing the Charleston, but on Friday.
27:29And she was saying, I was watching you guys on Friday
27:32and you're doing a last week practice.
27:34That, and that's really good.
27:35But see the bit where we do the jump.
27:37This is what you're doing wrong.
27:39This is how we do it.
27:40And we learned that if we do this.
27:42And so she was showing me.
27:44And what happened tonight, Mags?
27:45Yeah, it was perfect.
27:46We did this, but, and that was, came from a competitor.
27:51That I don't feel that there are competitors in here.
27:54We're all just, I'm sure there's some know
27:57that they're quite, pretty close to being able to win it, you know.
28:01So, but any competition in that is a kind of friendly way.
28:06But everybody else, everybody's just,
28:09just helping each other and with their own dance or techniques
28:13or how they practice or things like that,
28:15you know, passing off tips to each other.
28:17So that's one of the beauties of all this.
28:19I definitely agree with that.
28:21I definitely see that.
28:22Yeah.
28:22Actually, just when you're in that,
28:24so you've got your couple and then another couple
28:27learning the same dance.
28:28One performing the Thursday, one performing the Friday.
28:31And those little evenings, I find it really special
28:34alongside our group dances.
28:37Yeah.
28:38Yeah.
28:39We're all here for the same thing, aren't we?
28:41We're doing it for such a good cause.
28:42And if you've got each other, like, you know,
28:46helping along the way, you know, it's great.
28:49Isn't it really?
28:50Yeah.
28:51Well, I think that is a wonderful place
28:53for us to draw to a close there.
28:56Where can people find you if they want to sponsor you?
28:58Find out about your events?
29:00Mags, how can people get in touch to you?
29:02I'm on Facebook.
29:04A lot of my events are all through the socials.
29:07And don't get me wrong, I do put posters about
29:10in supermarkets, shops, whatever.
29:14But probably we'd probably get most of it online
29:17on my social page, you know, my Just Giving page.
29:21And yourself, John?
29:22Yeah, I suppose it's like everything in life now.
29:24The Facebook, whether we like it or not,
29:27it has this positive side of Facebook
29:29as people can find you and help with that.
29:33And that's where a lot of my, you know,
29:36contributions have come from.
29:38People there, my Just Giving is there.
29:40So if anyone's looking for me, it's John O'Brien.
29:43You have to spell it right as well, because...
29:45How do we spell it?
29:47O apostrophe capital B-R-I-E-N.
29:51My Just Giving page is there.
29:52I keep bumping up to the top all the time
29:55and making a wee, you know,
29:57a kind of cyber-shaking of the can, sort of.
30:03Well, thank you both so much for coming in
30:05and being part of this podcast.
30:07Thank you very much, Rachel.
30:09Thank you, and best of luck with the rest of the competition.
30:13Same to yourself.