My new wardrobe cha-cha-challenge

BAFTA-winning costume designer Vicky Gill, the woman who puts the sparkle into Strictly with her dazzling designs, is taking a leap of faith for the new production of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert...

- By Samantha Wostear

HEADMISTRESS: Designer Vicky Gill with gorgeous pink feather headdress, seen main, and other Priscilla garments

SHE MAY be the costume designer to the stars on Strictly Come Dancing but Vicky Gill knows her showstopping creations aren't always a winner with everyone. Comforting and coaxing those contestants who might not feel ready for the full-on sequin and-feather-boa ensembles has been as much a part of her work over the last two decades as dreaming up her fabulous designs.

Yet, while the woman who has also created costumes for Britney Spears, Girls Aloud and Kylie does her best to lend a sympathetic ear, she also insists her famous models "take a leap of faith and trust me that something will work" when slipping on a new dancefloor dazzler.

"I am kind but there's no time for lip service, just genuine advice and straight talking," she smiles.

"I know there will be times they are going to hate me for it — some of the creations might not immediately be what they were expecting — but as long as it all works out in the long run, and so far it always has, it's worth it. And it builds trust because they know I just want what is best for them."

Now after 21 years on Strictly, 13 years of them as Wardrobe Lead, Vicky is taking her own leap of faith as she embarks on her first foray into musical theatre.

She's due to join the iconic West End musical Priscilla, Queen of the Desert as it begins a new six-month tour in February. It is based on the 1994 film starring Terence Stamp, Guy Pearce and Hugo Weaving, which won an Oscar for its flamboyant costumes.

Vicky is designing all 200 of the revitalised show's lavish costumes, sewing and embellishing more than 1,000 metres of fabric with 300,000 crystals, 15,000 mirror ball components and 500 metres of ribbon, not to mention boas, beads and bows to boot.