Strictly Inverness 2024 contestant Darryl Geegan discusses whether being a drag queen has been any help to his training, the first same-sex couple to take part in the competition and why raising money for the Highland Hospice means so much to him.
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00:00 I thought that it might give me some kind of small advantage in terms of confidence,
00:08 but like all of that's out the window. The second I step into the classroom, because
00:17 it's ballroom dance is completely alien to me. It doesn't matter how much performing
00:21 experience I have under my belt, it's not even remotely similar. So if anything, it's
00:28 sort of thrown me maybe more than others because it's taken me right out of the sphere of what
00:33 I do normally. And I'm having to kind of re-teach myself to perform in a very different way.
00:43 So it's challenging on multiple levels for me.
00:46 You've got that physically learning the choreography, but I guess this was supposed to be something
00:51 that you never thought you'd have to come across and have to encounter and overcome.
00:57 No, because a lot of what I do, like I'm completely self-taught in many ways when it comes to
01:03 my performing, apart from the sort of benefit of having done Ness Factor a few years ago,
01:09 that helped tremendously with my vocals and stuff. But like in terms of stage presence,
01:16 moving about on stage, commanding an audience, like all of that is just something that's
01:19 been trial and error for me and learning what works and what doesn't as it happens. Sometimes
01:25 those lessons being painfully embarrassing, but other times being amazing. But this is
01:31 like, yeah, because it's so foreign to me, like I find myself like zoning out in the
01:38 middle of classes because I'm like, oh my goodness, how am I going to coach my brain
01:43 to think that this is normal? Like all of it just feels so bizarre. So yeah, it's throwing
01:51 me for 10 at the moment, but really enjoying it for sure. It would have been nice to see
01:56 at least one male male couple, but obviously with the deficit and application numbers,
02:01 you know, it just wasn't going to be feasible. But certainly it doesn't matter what combination
02:08 it is, the fact that there are, is a same sex couple in Strictly is amazing because not
02:15 only does that show me that the organisers and Inverness as a whole, they reckon is moving
02:20 in a direction where they'll think that's acceptable, be it for charity or not. Like
02:26 even five, six years ago, I think there would have still been major question marks over
02:31 doing that. So yeah, to see it, to see it happening is really cool.
02:35 Well, the work they do is amazing. I've been in a fortunate position where while I was
02:39 a student nurse, I managed to spend some time at the hospice and see from that side of things
02:43 how things go at the hospice. And obviously back when I was doing Ness Factor, we visited
02:49 the hospice, I think on one occasion to sing to the people who were there. So it was, that
02:54 was really lovely. And seeing everyone sort of light up in the room was, it was gorgeous.
02:58 And the entire atmosphere at the hospice is so worlds apart from what you find in a hospital.
03:06 There's just a really sombre but lovely feeling in the place. And yeah, quite recently I've
03:14 had one of my cousins and a dear friend of mine pass away in their care and there was,
03:21 there was no better place for them for sure.
03:25 You already knew about them, obviously, but being on the other side of that must be again,
03:28 completely different.
03:29 Yeah, I mean, you know, I knew, I knew bits of the work that they did, but to see exactly
03:39 how person-centered it was there was really inspiring because that's not something that
03:46 you see a whole lot, unfortunately, in other environments. I'm not going to name any of
03:50 those environments, but I have been in some environments where that sort of takes a back
03:54 seat because there's too much else to do and it sucks and it's unfortunate and I'm sure
04:00 people do their best. But to see the level of person-centered care that goes into looking
04:06 after people within the hospice is really amazing.
04:11 If for any reason anyone is saying that you should apply for Strictly or any event that
04:19 the hospice do, but when we're talking about Strictly right now, I would say just go for
04:23 it because it's so much fun. The friendships that we're making along the way right now
04:28 are really lovely. Everyone is coming at it as a beginner. There's going to be good days,
04:34 bad days, but you lean on each other and particularly your partner and you'll get through it. So
04:40 just what I would say is next time applications open, especially guys out there, just go for
04:46 it.
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