WORDS: SIMON BUTTON
LISTING ARLENE PHILLIPS’ CAREER milestones needs a lot of space. She created saucy dance troupe Hot Gossip, has made videos with Elton, Whitney and Freddie, choreographed musicals such as Starlight Express and We Will Rock You and movies including Annie, Can’t Stop The Music (starring the Village People), and Monty Python’s Meaning of Life. On top of that, she’s worked with some of the most successful directors of all time, from Ken Russell and John Huston, to Ridley Scott and Clint Eastwood — and then there’s her six-series stint as a no-nonsense judge on Strictly Come Dancing.
That’s pretty good going for the Lancashire lass who, after studying ballet and tap as a youngster, took a Dick Whittington-style trip to London in the Seventies to pursue her dream of becoming a professional dancer.