'The story is gripping, frightening, inspiring and surprising': Dan Snow to star in Strictly's 2023 Christmas special Posted by John Nguyen
Snow for Christmas. Guaranteed. Imagine it! The BBC is going against the grain by making many dreams come true with Strictly Come Dancing starring history buff Dan Snow. But, sadly (for both him and us), the shiny mass of fake tan will not be visible under a shiny, unbuttoned shirt.
“I was looking forward to all of this,” Snow reflects. a hint of sadness. “But I think that when they looked at me, a lanky old man, they immediately thought: “character”, not the snake Mr. Sexy. Actually, I'll be dressed like…”
“STOP!” I'm crying. Yes, I'm here to talk about his chassis and leg rotations, but first, a clip from A Man's Business; My husband sent a long email entitled “Things that annoyed me about [the recent movie] Napoleon.” He would like to contrast his pedantic complaints (sorry, I mean his very legitimate concerns about so many glaring inaccuracies) with Snow, who noted that Napoleon did not fight at the pyramids and never witnessed the execution of Marie Antoinette and was heavily criticized. the film's director, Ridley Scott, for his problems, saying he needed to “get his life together.”
Snow's eyes widen with delight as he scans my wife's list, nodding vigorously at comments about trenches (so wrong!) at Borodino and a lake at Austerlitz that never happened before he mildly disagreed with Scott's “failure to convey multilingual character French Army” as “too harsh criticism”. “Wow,” he finally concludes.
“Women don’t write emails like that,” I point out. He nods with all due solemnity. “I'm sorry you had to see this. No woman should be exposed to this. Guys, we are strange people. That's why I really think it's better for us to keep everything a secret.”
This week Sir Ridley Scott advised me to “find life.”
Waking up this morning with a bad hangover in this hotel, next to this thoroughfare, in the rain, I thought:
“Perhaps he's right.” pic.twitter.com/cgtOZln5Ik
— Dan Snow (@thehistoryguy) November 10, 2023
Exactly. But generally speaking, middle-aged, middle-class husbands want to be either Dan Snow or Bear Grylls. For me, I prefer to watch the 45-year-old Snow on the box, exuding energy and authority in equal measure as he strides through Syria, the Congo or the battlefields of World War II. Last year he traveled to Antarctica and witnessed the discovery of explorer Ernest Shackleton's ship, the Endurance, on the seabed, lying where it sank on November 21, 1915.
These days, he's back to presenting his popular History Hit podcast and appearing on his self-titled YouTube channel, which won the “Best Channel Specialist” award at this year's Broadcast Digital Awards. The past never had such a promising future.
“I think young people these days are really into history,” he says. “They watch what is happening in Ukraine and the Middle East and see the forces of history at work. I know Rishi Sunak wants children to study maths until they are 18, but I think they should study history until they are at least 16.”
“History is about more than dates and monarchs.” , he continues. “It's exciting and scary, inspiring and amazing. We are talking about the most exciting and significant things that have ever happened on this planet. History explains how Britain got to where it is today; why we speak English and not French, why we are a peaceful nation. Everything we do is based on the breakthroughs and innovations of the past; How amazing is that?”
To be fair, Snow, who received his MBE in 2019, has a great ability to find most things surprising. A real nepo kid before the nepo kids present a special episode commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Battle of El Alamein.
Snow with his father, TV presenter Peter Snow, in 2007. Photo: Colin McPherson/Corbis Entertainment
“I’m a total nepo child, a product of enormous privilege,” he says. “From a young age, my dad strongly advised me not to work on television. But he read Herodotus and Tacitus to me, so from the age of six or seven I was a bit of a know-it-all and made home history documentaries with a JVC camera.”
“My children are probably obsessed with history too. My daughter Zia, when she was younger, made a brilliant historical documentary about Boudicca in which I was a Roman and she played Boudicca in her bright orange Merida wig from Brave.
Snow, who lives in New Forest also has two other children: nine-year-old Wolf and eight-year-old Orla with his wife, Lady Edwina Grosvenor, 42. A criminologist and philanthropist dedicated to prison reform, she is also the sister of the seventh Duke of Westminster, Hugh Grosvenor, one of Britain's richest men and godfather of Prince George.
“I'm very aware that I don't need to work for financial reasons, so I thought long and hard about doing something meaningful and purposeful,” Snow reflects.
Snow with his wife Lady Edwina Grosvenor at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in 2018. Photo: Andrew Matthews/PA
“One thing I learned in my middle years is that it is important to acquire new skills; I get emotional nourishment from it and it's good for my mental health. I love daddy dances at weddings, so, of course, I immediately said “yes” to “Strictly”. I was hoping for a little rock 'n' roll number or maybe some sophisticated American Smooth – they gave me jive. Jive! Anton Du Beke walked past in the corridor and said: “Someone really hates you.”
To top it all off, when viewers sit down on their sofas to enjoy the magic of Strictly Christmas, they will see Snow dressed up – wait, wait – a 6ft 5in gingerbread man performing snaps, kicks and lifts.< br />
“After the first rehearsal, I got in the car to drive home and was so exhausted that I thought I would have to stop and sleep. Last weekend I climbed Ben Nevis with my kids, carrying all their stuff, but three hours of dancing and I was so wrecked that I honestly believed it was unthinkable that I would ever be able to dance on TV.”
< br />No spoilers, but suffice to say, this gingerbread man won't crack under the pressure of primetime entertainment.
I know it's a lot of fun, but sometimes I can't help but wonder why no one wants to be a gray man anymore? These days, I would say that interconnectedness is not all it is cracked up to be. It's impossible, okay, obscene to imagine Civilization host Kenneth Clark ever performing the Cha Cha Cha.
“I love it when Dad dances at weddings, so of course I immediately said yes to Strictly”: with partner Nadiya Bychkova Photo: Guy Levy/BBC
“I would never compare myself to Kenneth Clarke from a cultural point of view influence or importance,” Snow cries. “But the attitude has changed. Social media has given us more access to commentators, politicians and royals; you would never have seen George VI having afternoon tea with Paddington Bear, but the late Queen did it and the whole country just adored it.”
Mores may change in the public sphere, but tradition is synonymous with Snow family celebrations. On Christmas Eve they will travel to nearby Beaulieu, where A Christmas Carol is performed in the atmospheric abbey ruins. Then, on the 25th, they all go for a swim in the sea.
“Technically it’s not so much swimming as it’s running fast and running out again,” he says. “It's cold but fun, and I'm pretty sure my 86-year-old dad will join us.”
After the swim, the extended family will sit down to a full turkey roast for 20 people. “Bread sauce of course. My father is obsessed; I suspect that what excites him more than anything else is the bread sauce – it's downright Proustian.”
And when their sticky Dickensian plum pudding has settled, the children will squat in front of the TV to admire a seasonal presentation of the extraordinary papa dances. Will Dan be able to win the Glitter Ball? Who cares; let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.
The Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special airs on BBC One at 4:40pm on Christmas Day
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