Dancers Vincent Simone and Flavia Cacace made a bold decision to leave television’s biggest show while both it and they were at their peak, but it appears to have played dividends.

The pair created two theatre shows that have toured to acclaim and then each received Olivier Award nominations following West End runs.

Now they’re on the brink of their third, and last.

Flavia said: “It’s our last theatre show. We always saw a trilogy for some reason.

“We’ve been touring for coming up to seven years. It’s tough – eight shows a week is hard. There’s a lot of travelling and it does take its toll on your body mentally and physically.”

Flavia and Vincent may be preparing for their last theatre show but they said it won’t be the end of their professional relationship, which has lasted 20 years and included World titles.

“We’re just packing a suitcase, we’re not hanging up our shoes,” said Vincent.

For most people, they are best known for being among the professional dancers on Strictly Come Dancing for seven years.

Vincent said: “We were popular in the dancing world but once you’re on TV you’re talking about millions of people.”

Flavia added: “It’s thanks to Strictly that we’ve had the opportunity to be able to do our own theatre shows. Coming from our ballroom and latin world, as successful as we were, we had great opportunities but we wouldn’t have been able to get into theatres.”

The dancers left the show in 2013 and, judging by their success since, they left when the time was right.

Flavia said: “For us, we did because we wanted to make the most of our bodies while we’re still able to.

“It [Strictly] was all very last minute, because that’s what TV is. With this you can really push yourself and push the boundaries on choreography.

 

 

 

“That’s what we wanted to do. We wanted to dance as well as we could for as long as we could.”

Their new show is appropriately titled The Last Tango and the duo say it has the broadest appeal of any of their theatre shows.

Vincent said: “We don’t want to go to the places we went with the other two. Midnight Tango was tango in Argentina, in Dusk Til Dawn we went full showbiz and this is more intimate – a love story.”

Flavia added: “I think everyone will find a little something within the show that will remind them of either their life or someone else’s life that they know. So bring the tissues.

“We have managed to get a good balance, I think, of funny moments and uplifting moments with some quite emotional things in there as well.”

Vincent Simone and Flavia Cacace’s The Last Tango is at Richmond Theatre from October 5 to 10, Dartford’s Orchard Theatre from October 26 to 31 and New Wimbledon Theatre from February 16 to 20. For tickets, go to atgtickets.com/Richmond for Richmond, orchardtheatre.co.uk for Dartford or atgtickets.com/new-wimbledon-theatre for Wimbledon.