CAN'T wait till the next series of Strictly Come Dancing to start?

Well here's a treat to kick off summer. This week stars of Strictly are bringing the glitterball sparkle to Bradford - in Here Come the Boys.

The hit West End show features Strictly professionals Graziano Di Prima, Nadiya Bychkova, Nikita Kuzmin and Pasha Kovalev, and finalist Karim Zeroual, joined by a spectacular cast of dancers, backed by a huge LED screen.

Graziano Di Prima made his Here Come The Boys debut during the show's run at the London Palladium in 2021. He said: “The reaction we received during the Here Come The Boys residency in London’s West End last summer was very special. We are so excited to be able to finally bring this very special show to theatres across the rest of the UK."

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Nikita, Nadiya, Graziano, Karim and Pasha Nikita, Nadiya, Graziano, Karim and Pasha

Graziano joined Strictly in 2018 when he partnered TV and radio presenter Vick Hope. “It completely changed my life," he says. "I come from a small town in Sicily where my parents work in the vineyards. When I first started dancing, my dad said he thought there was something wrong with me.

“When the invitation came to join Strictly, I practically fell off my chair. My parents flew to the UK to watch me dance. The camera found my dad in the audience and tears were streaming down his face. Now he understood what dancing meant to me.”

Strictly veteran Pasha Kovalev says what he particularly likes about the show is that "every performance is slightly different".

"It feels like you’re creating something new each time," he says. "We take our lead from the audience and that makes it a lot of fun. There’s a sort of ping-pong between the stage and the auditorium. It’s one of the reasons I like touring so much.”

Being on tour means Pasha's two young daughters will be left at home with his Countdown maths whizz wife, Rachel Riley.

“The downside is that they can’t come on tour with me. I absolutely love dancing but it’s tough leaving the family at home especially after all those months of the pandemic when I was with them all the time," says Pasha.

Nikita Kuzman says joining Strictly last year "changed everything".

He adds: "I was born in Ukraine and lived and danced in Italy, Denmark and Germany before coming to the UK.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: The smash hit show is back with a new cast The smash hit show is back with a new cast

“But it was Strictly that made me feel 100 per cent me. I’ve never been as creatively challenged as I was on that first series - and I couldn’t have been luckier in having Tilly Ramsay as my first partner. It felt like a match made in heaven. We then were part of the live tour which was a huge thrill.”

Now he’s the 'newbie' in the line-up for Here Come The Boys and he couldn’t be happier. Because they went to the same dancing school in Italy, he already knew Graziano and Nadiya before he joined Strictly. Now, he’s getting to know Pasha and Karim. “What is so impressive about the line-up is the diversity everyone brings to the show,” he says.

Karim Zeroual was a runner-up on Strictly with pro dancer Amy Dowden in 2019. Best known as a CBBC presenter, he says: “What I love about Here Come The Boys is that it encompasses every form of dancing: ballroom, jive, street dance, contemporary, Latin, you name it. There’s something for everyone.

“It’s such a high-energy show, one big party featuring so much talent and a brilliant choreographer in Gareth Walker. And I have the honour of hosting the show which means I get to speak to the audience and get them involved.”

And finally, here comes the girl...Nadiya Bychkova’s second shot at Here Come The Boys and she’s delighted. “It was lovely to be part of the first show opening up The Palladium again following the pandemic. The first night was very emotional," she says. "Now, I can’t wait to repeat the experience plus, this time, we get to go on tour.”

Will her boyfriend and fellow Strictly professional, Kai Widdrington, come to some of the shows? “Oh, I’m sure he will,” she says. “We support each other.”

Nadiya has been busy this year on the Strictly Live tour and the recent Pro tour. “All of that requires a lot of careful planning so I can get to see my daughter, Mila, as much as I can," she says. "But much nicer to be too busy than not busy enough. And I’ll be back on Strictly this autumn so I’ve barely got a day off for the rest of this year.”

She’s not complaining: “I love to work hard and I love to dance. So I consider myself very lucky.” And no, she’s not remotely fazed, she says, about being the only leading female in Here Come The Boys.

“The trick is to make it look as though the men are in charge," she says, adding: "But then isn’t that what women have been doing for men since the beginning of time?”

* Here Come The Boys is at St George's Hall on Thursday, June 23. For tickets call (01274) 432000 or go to bradford-theatres.co.uk