Kevin Clifton leads cast of Strictly Ballroom to Leeds Grand Theatre

Kevin Clifton plays Scott Hastings in Strictly Ballroom heading to Leeds later this year

Baz Luhrmann’s smash hit musical Strictly Ballroom is set to sweep audiences off their feet when the new tour comes to Yorkshire later this year.

It is directed by the fab-u-lous Craig Revel Horwood, former Strictly Come Dancing champion Kevin Clifton stars as Scott Hastings.

Foxtrotting into the Lees Grand Theatre, the show is based on the award-winning Baz Luhrmann's Strictly Ballroom which inspired the world to dance and spawned the smash hit TV series Strictly Come Dancing.

Craig said: "I am absolutely delighted to be directing the amazing Kevin Clifton and the sensational Maisie Smith, together with our super talented cast in Strictly Ballroom The Musical - I know that they’ll all be FAB-U-LOUS. Expect some sexy moves, sizzling costumes and a simply sensational evening.

“You’ve got all this fantastic dancing and the characters are sometimes dark and twisted, which makes for good comedy.

"It’s about two people who are at the same point in their lives when they meet and it’s almost a Romeo and Juliet-style tale of two people from different gangs, without the tragic ending of course.

Fran is from a very religious Spanish family whose dance tradition is flamenco and Scott is from the ballroom world. He’s trying to break out from the constrictions of that and Fran is trying to break out from her regime."

Strictly Ballroom The Musical tells the beguiling story of Scott Hastings, a talented, arrogant and rebellious young ballroom dancer.

When Scott’s radical dance moves see him fall out of favour with the Australian Federation, he finds himself dancing with Fran, a beginner with no moves at all. Inspired by one another, this unlikely pair gather the courage to defy both convention and their families – and discover that, to be winners, the steps don’t need to be strictly ballroom.

Growing up in the village of Waltham, near Grimsby, Kevin was being taught ballroom and Latin by his parents Keith and Judy and told the four times British Latin American champions: “I guarantee you that one day they’re going to make a musical out of this and I’m going to play Scott Hastings in it.

"It’s been a lifelong ambition of mine and I’m so excited that I’m getting to be in the stage version of my favourite film of all time.”

It is at Leeds Grand Theatre from Monday July 3 to Saturday July 8.