‘Strictly Come Dancing’ contestant Judge Rinder admits he was a bit concerned as to how his legal peers would regard him in his new uniform – fake tan and sequins.
He tells Radio Times: “I had a slight reservation before I started the show about how my colleagues in the law would react to seeing me covered in fake tan and sequins – or indeed, dressed as a Flintstone patting (dancing partner) Oksana’s bottom like a bongo.
“But Strictly’s so well loved, I knew they’d view it in the spirit it’s intended.”
TV’s most opinionated law-maker usually appears in another distinctive outfit – “judge’s gown, bearing a gavel” – but he has his eye on further TV projects beyond the courtroom where he has made his name.
“My career, moving forward, is more in the media than at the bar,” he confirms.
Judge Rinder, with partner Oksana Platero, has been inhabiting the middle ranks of the scoreboard so far. The good news this week was that his distinctive face-pulling has finally got the judges on side, but he made a mistake in his previous Flintstones Charleston, for which he’s still giving himself a hard time.
“To have made a mistake was like knowing that all your prep for an exam has gone well, but then the one question you never thought to revise for comes up.
“The sense of fury that I couldn’t have another go was deeply upsetting.”
You can read the full interview with Judge Rinder in next week’s Radio Times, on sale now.