Strictly Come Dancing put on its annual Halloween special over the weekend, meaning the show’s hair, makeup and wardrobe team were once again allowed to let their imaginations run wild.
This year, nestled among the usual spooky suspects – which included Frankenstein and his bride, two motorbike-riding demons and a zombie workout instructor – were a pair of rather adorable lobsters, otherwise known as Dan Walker and Nadiya Bychkova.
Dan and Nadiya performed a Jive to The B-52s’ Rock Lobster while dressed in head-to-tie crustacean outfits on Saturday night, which some viewers remarked were a little out of the ordinary for Halloween.
Speaking on Monday’s edition of BBC Breakfast, Dan – who is a practising Christian – explained the wardrobe choice, revealing that he and his family don’t celebrate Halloween.
Instead, his three children attend Light Parties (billed as a “positive alternative to Halloween”) around the end of October, with Dan telling co-presenter Sally Nugent he didn’t want to go against his family values while appearing on Strictly’s spooky special.
“Lots of people did ask me, actually, about what lobsters have got to do with Halloween,” he explained. “I should tell you, we don’t celebrate Halloween in our house.
“And I’ve got to say a huge thank you to Strictly because they enabled me to be part of that programme without sort of ‘doing Halloween’.”
Dan continued: “Our kids would normally go to a Light Party on Halloween weekend... and I couldn’t go on that programme and be a disingenuous dad.
“Anybody who’s got children and they talk to their children about what they can do and they can’t do and why they can’t do things in a certain way [will understand]… I can’t go on there and say, ‘do as I say, and not as I do’. So, that’s where the lobsters came from.”
“Strictly were brilliant,” Dan added. “Nadiya embraced it, and I’m very thankful to have made it through another week.”
Because of his religious beliefs, the former Football Focus host has always turned down offers to work on Sundays, recently telling iNews he considers the end of the week a “family day”.
“Sometimes, it’s been difficult, and some people find it peculiar that that’s the stance I’ve chosen to take. But it’s really important,” he told the outlet. “I work a lot, so I have to make up for the fact that I’m not there.
“My faith is important to me. It’s what makes me tick. Having that time to rest, gain perspective and concentrate on the important things in life keeps me grounded.”
Dan and Nadiya’s lobster routine landed them near the bottom of the judges’ scoreboard on Saturday night, but the pair managed to escape the dreaded dance-off for the sixth time.
Instead, comedian Judi Love became the latest star to be eliminated, after winding up in the bottom two with Olympian Adam Peaty.
BBC Breakfast airs every weekday from 6am on BBC One.