Ah, Strictly Come Dancing ― the show has it all, from glitzy outfits to glam hosts and, of course, that absolute banger of a theme song.
Even people who don’t watch the show will likely recognise the Latin-style beat.
But even if, like us, you’ve heard the song upwards of 200 times, there’s every chance you never had any idea who was responsible for the legendary “hey!” an unknown voice calls out eight seconds into the bop.
A recent TikTok from British actor Matt Berry – best known for his work in like Garth Merenghi’s Dark Place, What We Do In The Shadows and The IT Crowd – revealed he was responsible for voicing the song’s lyrics.
“Are you aware of a show called Dancing With The Stars?” he asked in the 2021 PaleyFest footage, filmed during a virtual What We Do In The Shadows panel.
“So, Dancing With The Stars, the theme goes ‘ba-ba-da-da-da-da-dah, dum da dum da dum, HEY!’”, he explained.
“And there’s a guitar line that’s playing underneath it ― I’m playing the guitar line, and it’s me that goes, ‘HEY!’.”.
The Dancing With The Stars theme tune is the same as Strictly’s as the BBC licences the format across the world.
Dan McGrath, who wrote the song with Josh Phillips ― is friends with Matt, Pop Culture says, and they’ve worked on TV shows like House Of Fools together.
A panel member asked the question on all of our minds ― “And do you get a little bit of money every time that we hear that?” they inquired.
“Nothing,” Matt replied instantly.
Matt’s been a musician for a while, with his (very good!) Spotify account garnering around 110,000 listeners a month.
He’s responsible for the Toast Of London theme song too and has even released an album of TV theme show covers as an “appreciation of a time when the signature tune and title sequence were both important elements within the overall theme, atmosphere and tone of a television show.”
Who knew?