Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Well, welcome to our first podcast.
00:06So, can you tell us your names and who you are?
00:09I'm Kelly Ellen McFarlane.
00:11And I'm Billy Young.
00:13And you're a duo?
00:15Yes, we're in a double act.
00:19Terrible twins.
00:20Aye, goose and tooth in.
00:22How do you feel about that?
00:24Terrible. Terrible. We're gutted to be put together.
00:28So you've known each other before?
00:29We've actually known each other for...
00:31Just a few decades.
00:33Since I was about 18 when I met you.
00:3517, 18 when I met you.
00:37So I actually used to work with Kelly Ann's sister years ago.
00:41So I met Kelly Ann through her sister Elizabeth when I worked in Outfitters.
00:45So he's my fake now.
00:47And dad's partner.
00:49And I'm your partner.
00:51That's quite a fate really, isn't it?
00:53I think, one thing, when we did Pairing Night,
00:57I know you weren't there, but
00:59I thought they did really well
01:01in just how they sort of
01:03paired us up.
01:05And how they found rhythm between all the couples.
01:07And height. I think most of us were shorter than that.
01:09Yeah, that's the most important thing, isn't it?
01:11Especially when you're like us and you're tiny.
01:15We're like the tiny two.
01:17Yeah, I think you might have had trouble with this.
01:19Yeah, my body's a bit taller.
01:21Yeah.
01:23So what would you decide to sign up for it?
01:25Well,
01:27me personally, it was,
01:29honestly, I don't have any.
01:31My family have personally been in highland hospice.
01:33But I do have friends.
01:35And I just think it's an amazing cause.
01:37And also, just pushing yourself out of your comfort zone.
01:39What better way to
01:41raise money for charity?
01:43And learning something new.
01:45Quite a lot of learning.
01:47Dancing, it's totally,
01:49I've not got any background in
01:51any type of ballroom dancing.
01:53Completely new.
01:55So we'll see how it goes.
01:59And I actually lost
02:01my mum in July last year.
02:03So quite recently.
02:05And she spent a little bit of time in the hospice
02:07in between that sort of end
02:09of life part. But we did manage to get
02:11her home, which was her wish.
02:13But the experience
02:15that we had at the hospice was like
02:17second to none. It was just amazing.
02:19When you're going through the hardest time
02:21of your life and we just had so much support
02:23we were just like, this is absolutely
02:25like, we were just blown
02:27away with how good it was.
02:29So I needed someone to keep myself busy.
02:31Because I'm very, if I didn't
02:33I'd probably just crumble.
02:35So this is like the right thing for me. And I know that I'm doing it for
02:37something really positive.
02:39And I can give back to that experience that I had.
02:41Do you know?
02:43So, get me money!
02:47Well that's a good point actually. So we're like a week in.
02:49How's the fundraising going?
02:51More importantly?
02:53We've got a lot of plans in motion.
02:55Well you'll know yourself
02:57it's when you're trying to
02:59organise and you're waiting for people to get back to you
03:01and you're trying to confirm venues and dates
03:03and we just want to get the wheels
03:05in motion and get going.
03:07I'm like, right, slowly, slowly. We just need to
03:09take our time, make sure we get everything
03:11sorted.
03:13But yeah, we've got a few
03:15plans in motion. Yeah, we've got quite a lot
03:17but I was saying before
03:19we're quite, especially me,
03:21very pernickety.
03:23So we've started branding things.
03:25So we've got a logo that we want.
03:27Yeah, we're both perfectionists.
03:29So we've created a logo which symbolises
03:31spreadsheets.
03:33It symbolises Kelly's mum and my mum
03:35and it's going to be linked on all of our posters
03:37and our tickets so that when people are obviously
03:39part of, like when they're doing
03:41the Strictly events, they'll know which ones belong to us
03:43just simply from that.
03:45We wanted to finalise that before then we started
03:47putting anything out because we didn't want it to be
03:49half-hearted. So we do have
03:51things finalised. We've got quite a few events
03:53ready to go.
03:55Can you give us any hints or dates people
03:57should keep for you?
03:59The first major one,
04:01our first big one, we've got a few
04:03smaller ones.
04:05I quite like the smaller ones because
04:07they're less
04:09sort of organisation.
04:11I'm going to be doing
04:13a fundraiser event up at my
04:15sister's shop. She's actually my corporate
04:17sponsor up at City Barbers.
04:19My niece, who
04:21I don't know, you might have heard her on
04:23the Moray Cove Radio, she
04:25wrote her own song
04:27and they played her on the radio.
04:29So she's going to be actually there with her
04:31piano singing.
04:33I'll be shaking her buckets selling the Apple tickets.
04:35That's kind of the first one. And then
04:37I think you've got some quiz nights and things.
04:39Yeah, we've got all the generic little
04:41things, but we do have like...
04:43The 5th of March
04:45we've got a medium
04:47night booked.
04:49So we are going to start advertising that
04:51very soon, getting tickets on sale, but we are
04:53just waiting for our branding.
04:55I love that!
04:57So what made you guys do it?
04:59Because most couples, I think,
05:01I'm going to do some of my own events.
05:03Alicia's going to go to her own events.
05:05So what made you both decide
05:07to go 100 in?
05:09Yeah, we're very like-minded.
05:11I think we thought that...
05:13We thought it would be easier, basically.
05:15And we can both put 100%
05:17into it.
05:19He's got his really good...
05:21Oh, probably, yeah, absolutely.
05:23He's got his really good points
05:25and skills, and I've got my points and skills
05:27and I think put together we can really
05:29make it work.
05:31And also, you don't want to be doing
05:33those events on your own as well.
05:35We might end up having two separate events as well.
05:37Yeah.
05:39We are doing things that we're planning
05:41all together, but we might not be at every single event
05:43together. So that we're just
05:45making sure that we've got everything there
05:47and we're contributing the same amount
05:49because it's a full-time job.
05:51It's quite overwhelming, isn't it?
05:53It's like a big uphill climb
05:55that we're on right now. And it's only the beginning.
05:57How are you feeling about it?
05:59In terms of fundraisers,
06:01really, at this point, I've got lots of
06:03ideas, none of them have been executed
06:05yet, and lots of
06:07little dates planned here
06:09and there.
06:11I've got an issue, you've got?
06:13I've got Erin.
06:15Our problem is, because we've both signed up
06:17to win the company, we're arguing
06:19over...
06:21Yes, and for our colleagues' money.
06:23Oh, absolutely.
06:25I'm already fighting about that.
06:27Yeah.
06:29Because we're on different teams, but we'll probably do a few
06:31together because then
06:33our colleagues who are only friends
06:35can come
06:37and just want a bag.
06:39And then you don't have to choose between us.
06:41Yeah, exactly.
06:43I'm feeling...
06:45I don't know, I feel like January was stressing me out a bit.
06:47You know, the fact that we couldn't really start
06:49fundraising until the 6th of January
06:51was making me nervous.
06:53I felt like I had to do something in January, so I'm
06:55organising a burn's night.
06:57So I just thought that's a quick, easy thing
06:59to just get done, but no-one's got any money
07:01until January. So that's the problem.
07:03So that's making me nervous
07:05because I'm like, I've got as many people
07:07as I'd like, but then...
07:09I shouldn't complain about that, still, they're coming.
07:11It's just difficult.
07:13We're trying to do anything that's not got any overhead
07:15because you just can't...
07:17you can't guess how many people are coming.
07:19So we're literally milking
07:21people dry, lifting them up by the feet
07:23and letting their coins drop.
07:25We're like, will you do this for free? And if not,
07:27we don't need you.
07:29There's a lot bigger events,
07:31so much organisation goes into it,
07:33and every time you fail your events,
07:35you kind of think, well, is there anything
07:37going to be left?
07:39That's escapism.
07:41You've got 35 people probably also going into the same market.
07:43Even if this isn't big.
07:45So I'm
07:47mostly targeting Elgin, don't know about you.
07:49I'm targeting Inverness, but I also
07:51have family up on the West Coast.
07:53They just kind of target their little
07:55do-something in their community halls.
07:57If you do stuff in CUNY halls and things like that,
07:59they love it,
08:01don't they?
08:03That's a good idea, Bingo Night.
08:05And then we're planning to do a little yoga event here as well.
08:07Something like that I can do.
08:09We've got a quiz hopefully at some point.
08:11I think we've got two quizzes.
08:13I've organised
08:15dance tutors to come to.
08:17I run a little village also,
08:19so I'm making use of that as best I can.
08:21But I've got a dance workshop happening
08:23that will happen once a month.
08:25The idea is that all of my friends can go to that
08:27and that sort of gets them in the mood.
08:29By May, they're sort of
08:31going to be up dancing with you.
08:33Talking of dancing,
08:35how many rehearsals have you had?
08:37We've only had the one,
08:39but there wasn't really that much dancing.
08:41We just had a lot of conversation
08:43around how we wanted things to go.
08:45Choreography.
08:47Yeah, can't show too much.
08:49But did you feel more intimidated
08:51or less intimidated?
08:53I was excited actually.
08:55I couldn't wait to get started.
08:57So we're all doing showdance, aren't we?
08:59You're all doing showdance on Thursday night
09:01and I'm doing showdance with Alicia on Friday night.
09:03I don't know.
09:05I felt like a lot of information just got thrown at us.
09:07Yeah.
09:09I think it's going to be like that
09:11for the next three months.
09:13We're just going to get pummeled with information
09:15and we're just going to have to process it.
09:17I'm literally...
09:19As long as you can dance at the end of it.
09:21I'm literally...
09:23I'm terrible, aren't I?
09:25It's all I'm thinking about.
09:27I've contracted schools and everything
09:29about doing fundraising days
09:31and dress down days.
09:33I literally can't get as much money as possible.
09:35And you're on it.
09:37But it's because I hate losing.
09:39If I need to win at something,
09:41so there's not the dancing,
09:43I'll need to win at the fundraising.
09:45I need to win something.
09:47We're not just winning with the dancing.
09:49I know, but it's actually worth it.
09:53She's trying to play nice.
09:55Me and her together, she's like, wait.
09:57We get along on Thursday nights.
09:59We're in my competition.
10:01So what's your other dance?
10:03The Rumba.
10:05And have you had a lesson yet?
10:07That's for the Lessons of Sunday.
10:09So you've got a double lesson on a Sunday?
10:11We've got a group.
10:13This is what our plan is.
10:15We've got a group at quarter to one to quarter to two.
10:17And then we've got our Rumba.
10:19Is it quarter to five to quarter to six?
10:21No, quarter to six to quarter to seven.
10:23So we've got a four hour period in between.
10:25So we're like, maybe we could just...
10:27That could be our practice time.
10:29So that we're not using another day of our time to do...
10:31Your Sundays are written off.
10:33Yeah.
10:35I've got Sunday, Monday, Tuesday.
10:37It's a lot.
10:39I live in Elgin as well.
10:41So Monday, I don't finish until eight or nine.
10:43And then it's an hour back.
10:45And then I'm up for work.
10:47And it's so full on.
10:49This week has been nagging.
10:51It's getting all the times now.
10:53I think when everything's pencilled in and finalised,
10:55it's going to be a little bit easier.
10:57But at this moment in time,
10:59I feel like everything's up in the air for us.
11:01And we're just like,
11:03we're still trying to dot all the I's
11:05and cross all the T's.
11:07And then it might get a little bit easier.
11:09But because I'm naturally very competitive,
11:11I think it's going to be stressful the whole way.
11:13Are you just as competitive?
11:15Probably secretly quite competitive.
11:19She doesn't let it out.
11:21Will we throw marbles at it?
11:23It'll be like the last few weeks.
11:25Yeah.
11:27But we've had lots of funny bits as well,
11:29like with Bobby the Bee.
11:31What's Bobby the Bee?
11:33So Bobby the Bee is the mascot
11:35for the Highland Hotspots.
11:37And so we went to the information night,
11:39and Carrie was showing us,
11:41that Bobby the Bee could be available for hire.
11:43So I was like,
11:45that's great.
11:47He's like, I'll message Carrie
11:49and see if Bobby the Bee is available
11:51for when I do my fundraiser.
11:53So I messaged her,
11:55I was like, did you hear back about
11:57Bobby the Bee?
11:59And he's like, yeah.
12:01So he sent me a screenshot of it,
12:03and she was like, you can pick Bobby the Bee.
12:05Bobby the Bee's fine, you can pick it up on Friday
12:07and drop it off on Monday.
12:09An absolute fit.
12:11I was like, it's a costume.
12:13I just thought this person
12:15was lying.
12:17Bobby the Bee.
12:19I was like,
12:21Bobby, this is a costume.
12:23We've got the costume, and she's like,
12:25who's who?
12:27I was just like, what was I thinking?
12:29Just a dedicated person,
12:31that works.
12:33Dresses up as Bobby the Bee.
12:35Amazing.
12:37Honestly, I was just like, he's like, what?
12:39She sent me a voice note,
12:41and I was literally in tears.
12:43I sent it to my friends, my family,
12:45I was literally messaging everyone.
12:47There's too much sweat.
12:49If there's anyone out there
12:51that wants to dress up as Bobby the Bee for you.
12:53Yeah, let us know.
12:55He's like, you'll just have to wear it.
12:57I'm like, too big for me.
12:59So just so you know, Bobby the Bee is a
13:01caricature, and you have to wear it.
13:03That's why, Finn.
13:05Amazing.
13:07What are you most scared by,
13:09with everything that's going on?
13:11Not raising any money,
13:13and having no Finn friends to come and watch me on the night.
13:15Three tables.
13:17Yeah, three tables at twelve.
13:19I don't know that many people.
13:21That's fine.
13:23On the street, like,
13:25please, can you come watch me?
13:27You'll be able to sell the tickets like that.
13:29I know loads of people that are desperate for it.
13:31Do you know how many people go?
13:33They said it's like,
13:35five, six hundred.
13:37Six hundred, yeah.
13:39Which I didn't realise.
13:41Apparently it's blinding on the night
13:43that you actually can't see anybody
13:45because the lights are so bright.
13:47Have any of you had a chance to go in and look at the
13:49last year's dancers on YouTube?
13:51They're amazing, aren't they?
13:53Very good.
13:55Are you more worried about one dance than the other?
13:57Because we've not done any of the
13:59other one either.
14:01We're not really...
14:03I wouldn't say I'm worried about it, I think I'll be more worried about it.
14:05When we've actually started doing it.
14:07Because we've not really started getting into the nitty gritty of it.
14:09So, just now we know what we're doing
14:11but we've not seen it.
14:13So, when we see it we might be like...
14:15Oh!
14:19Other than raising money and learning to dance,
14:21is there anything that you're really
14:23hoping to gain over the next few months?
14:25Whether that be confidence,
14:27or personal growth.
14:29Yeah!
14:31Resilience.
14:33It's all in our logo.
14:35Have you got anything?
14:37Yeah, we've got all the things that...
14:39The spiritual meanings of the...
14:41Because my mum loved howling cows.
14:43So, we've got a howling cow
14:45and Kellyanne's mum loved butterflies.
14:47So, we've used that as our logo.
14:49So, it's the butterfly and the howling cow.
14:51And then the spiritual words for them are
14:53resilience, rebirth, growth.
14:55We've just put that round it.
14:57So, that's our strength.
14:59So, that's our logo.
15:01And when we're looking at it, we're like,
15:03that is what we want to gain.
15:05It's like a timeline of...
15:07Let's hope we make it to the end!
15:09Maybe we'll give ourselves a little...
15:11It's a really nice touch.
15:13Yeah!
15:15It's very personal to us.
15:17My mum passed away in 2016.
15:19Cancer.
15:21That's something else that we're...
15:23It's full circle for us.
15:25Obviously, I've known Kellyanne that long.
15:27So, I obviously was there when she lost her mum.
15:29She's there when I've lost my mum.
15:31Then we've gone full circle.
15:33She's actually doing something to honour them.
15:35So, it's actually quite exciting.
15:37But at the same time, it's hard.
15:39So, I think we were needing something
15:41to keep our focus on it.
15:43And that's why we chose to do that local thing with it as well.
15:45It's really beautiful.
15:47When you do it, when you paint it like that
15:49and then you go back to pairing it,
15:51you also get pep to give it.
15:53Yeah.
15:55Yeah. I mean, I did ask.
15:57Oh.
15:59So, it's nothing out of faith.
16:01Well, to be honest, we were both meant
16:03to be coming to the pairing night.
16:05I was absolutely floored completely.
16:07It's got the worst form of flu.
16:09I don't even know what flu is.
16:11Well, it was just...
16:13It floored me for about three weeks.
16:15And even on the night of the pairing, I floored Kellyanne.
16:17I just don't feel well.
16:19I was just completely like,
16:21oh, I'm going for work from home.
16:23Because I'm not going to be able to make it out of the office.
16:25And he was ill as well.
16:27So, none of us could make it that night.
16:29So, I think it might have been through default
16:31that we ended up getting paired.
16:33So, hang on. I've gone on about how good a pairing that was.
16:35None of us were there.
16:37I know.
16:39Very brilliant.
16:41I was in my bed eating ice lollies.
16:43Like, that was like...
16:45That's not...
16:47We were on the phone to each other and we were like,
16:49do you know that way where you're trying to
16:51gear each other up to get ready to go?
16:53And we were just like,
16:55if you don't go, I won't go.
16:57You feel bad.
16:59I couldn't even...
17:01Even just getting out of bed and moving.
17:03Every bone in my body was sore.
17:05I've never had it in for the rest of my life.
17:07It should have been worse for the flu.
17:09The one thing I've really invested in
17:11about pairing that was
17:13how quickly they did get you dancing.
17:15They taught you steps.
17:17Well, we watched the video.
17:19Well, yeah.
17:21We've seen you step.
17:23Well, you saw how we started an hour before.
17:25Yeah.
17:27I don't know. I was impressed.
17:29It gave you hope. Gave me hope.
17:31What are yous like within...
17:33Because obviously we're quite lucky because we do know each other,
17:35which has made the pairing of each other
17:37quite easier
17:39because obviously we do know each other.
17:41It's probably going to be harder for us
17:43the closer we get in because we're going to be more likely
17:45to fall out with each other.
17:47How are yous finding the pairing?
17:49I just met my
17:51pairing at the first rehearsal
17:53because my pair got switched on Monday.
17:57All we've done is dance together yet
17:59and we haven't actually got to know each other.
18:01I think it's going to be okay.
18:03She seems quite relaxed, quite chilled.
18:05I need somebody that's like that same
18:07kind of vibe, wavelength.
18:09I think it's going to be good
18:11but like you say,
18:13it's not like you can get mad
18:15at your colleagues or your family
18:17and your friends, can you?
18:19I'll be on my best behaviour.
18:21We'll be fighting on the cornice as well.
18:23I'll have to just keep it within.
18:25We will.
18:29Honestly, I don't know if I get on really well with
18:31Alicia.
18:33I think when we did the first show
18:35last night and we were both
18:37writing each other's faces, that was awkward
18:39because we don't
18:41know each other and suddenly
18:43it's infinite.
18:45That was an accident.
18:47We were like, we're not touching you.
18:53I think we shared a glance
18:55but we didn't really know where to look.
18:57Was that awkward?
18:59I don't know if it was awkward.
19:01I love that awkwardness.
19:03We're on a good wavelength actually.
19:05She seems really, really nice
19:07It will make that journey easier.
19:09But everybody that I've met seems really nice.
19:11Everybody does.
19:13Everybody seems to have it up for it, having a good time
19:15and just doing the best we can.
19:17It'll be nice when we all have our groups together.
19:21You should have us back again
19:23closer to the actual time
19:25of it and see what we're saying then.
19:29If we're still together.
19:31Change partners.
19:33We actually got rid
19:35of our logo.
19:43Our last question for you
19:45is if the two of you were stuck on a different island
19:47together, what three items
19:49would you each bring?
19:51Curry.
19:53We both would bring curry, wouldn't we?
19:55We couldn't live without it.
19:57What type of curry?
19:59Naga.
20:01Or a thing of chillies.
20:03You could put chillies on anything.
20:05We both really like spicy food.
20:07We bonded over
20:09Bombay bad boy many years ago.
20:11Don't have that in the night before your performance.
20:17For me, curry would definitely be one of them.
20:19Chilli flakes for me.
20:21A really good looking man.
20:23Could I just have a good looking man there?
20:25Could I have whatever I like?
20:27I'd have that.
20:30And...
20:32Water.
20:34Yeah, like not from the sea.
20:42Tea.
20:44Or hot chocolate.
20:46I do like tea.
20:52Can I take my teapot as well?
20:55Is that just the tea?
20:57Yeah.
21:01Thank you so much.
21:03I think just before we round off though,
21:05where can people find you online
21:07if they're trying to donate?
21:09So we have got our JustGivingPages
21:11app, we can send you
21:13links for that that you can maybe copy
21:15in.
21:17But also we're selling ticket, most of our ticket sales
21:19will be, if you're buying tickets direct
21:21we'll be selling them from the Rigmore Motel
21:23just because that's where we're doing a lot of our
21:25nights, we're using
21:27that space because they're sponsoring me.
21:31Or just our
21:33online pages.
21:35More to come.
21:37Yeah.
21:39Exactly.
21:41Well, all the best.
21:43And good luck to you.
21:45It's like, good luck, but I hope.
21:47Yeah, I'm like, good luck.
21:49I will see you on Sunday.
21:51For a group session.
21:53I'm excited for that.
21:55I'm excited for that as well, I think that's the bit that I'm looking
21:57forward to most on Sunday, is the group one.
21:59I'm excited to just meet everybody properly.
22:01It's been like, really
22:03the meetings have been a wee bit weird and everyone's
22:05really uncomfortable.
22:07You're all sort of like,
22:09I don't know, I don't want to speak to you.
22:11I like the theme, which we won't reveal.
22:13We won't reveal.
22:15I don't know if we can reveal the theme.
22:17Yeah, I don't think we should.
22:19It's exciting.
22:21It's like,
22:23you know,
22:25we don't even know the music yet for
22:27show dance, do we?
22:29Yeah.
22:31Yes, we do.
22:33Yeah.
22:35Were you at the same show dance?
22:37You need to look up the dates.
22:39Yeah.
22:41Thank you so much
22:43for coming in.
22:45Thank you so much for having us.
22:47Thanks for having us.