When you get that big cheer it's like, 'ha ha, it's my night'

It's the return of the Strictly Legends as MARION McMULLEN checks out the backstage banter with dance stars Pasha Kovalev and Brendan Cole

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Would either of you ever go back to Strictly Come Dancing? Brendan: I think it would be very hard to go back as a dancer. I danced my socks off for 15 series and when you retire from something like that I think the best thing is to look forward not back.

I loved being a judge on the New Zealand version of Strictly. It felt like a natural progression from performance to judge. It makes a lot of sense. I love judging ... you never get voted off.

Pasha: I had my time on Strictly and I loved it, but I am enjoying the freedom now. Strictly, as amazing as it is, takes so much time out of your life. This time Strictly finishes two days before Christmas and that would not work for me. It’s a long commitment and you get a lot from it, but at the same time you lose spending time with your loved ones and for me at the moment that is more important.

Pasha, you met your wife Rachel Riley on Strictly and you now have two young daughters. Do they enjoy dancing?

They dance around and go to a little ballet class and they absolutely love it. I really enjoy watching them dancing. It’s funny because being in the dance system all my life, before I had children, I would see kids perform and their parents saying ‘oh, it's the best thing ever’ and I would be ‘What are you talking about?’ But now, looking at my girls, I understand it from the parents’ perspective.