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The Car People

They're strictly sizzling

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Published Date: 22 December 2005
THE hottest couple in the world of dance showed Sheffield just why they're the best - when they returned to their home city for a sizzling one-off show.
Strictly Come Dancing winners Darren Bennett and his wife Lilia Kopylova were the star guests at a party at Ponds Forge last night.
The bash - attended by hundreds of learner dancers and invited guests - was the annual end-of-year ball for pupils at
the City Limits dance school in Walkley, owned by Darren's mum and dad Tony and Judith.
Lilia, who won series three of the hit BBC show with Barnsley bowler Darren Gough on Saturday, and Darren, who won series two last year with EastEnders actress Jill Halfpenny, performed a cabaret show of five dazzling Latin American dances complete with five sensational costume changes.
For the jive the twinkle-toed twosome wore purple sequins and feathers, for the raunchy rumba Lilia slipped into a long burnt-gold dress, and for the paso doble she fluttered two huge red Spanish fans.
And in between dances Deepcar-born Darren caught his breath long enough to thank The Star for its campaign to urge readers to vote for Lilia and Darren Gough to clinch this year's Strictly Come Dancing title.
Darren - who admitted being even more nervous for Lilia on Saturday than he had been when he won himself - said: "The Star has shown Lilia and myself so much support, both last year and this year. It has been great.
"I'm sure all the coverage The Star has given us was responsible for at least one or two of the votes Lilia received this year!"
Darren, aged 28, and Lilia, who live in Treeton, Rotherham, arrived at the party fresh from London where they were filming the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special to be screened on BBC1 on Christmas Eve.
The programme brings together couples from the show competing against a host of new celebrities including model Rachel Hunter and boxer Evander Holyfield.
And while the result is top-secret until Saturday, Russian-born Lilia revealed with a wink: "I'm not greedy when it comes to trophies... but I can't help being good!"
The 26-year-old said she had been touched by the hundreds of emails she had received since appearing on the show - including some from tiny children.
She said: "My fans seem to range in age from four upwards. One mum said her little boy kissed the TV screen when I come on!
"Another emailed to say her son fell in love with me last year, and was still in love with me this year, and he had only just turned five!"
And Darren joked that while Lilia had spent weeks turning Darren Gough into a dancer, he had been reduced to carrying out the household chores after being evicted with his TV presenter partner Gloria Hunniford in week three.
He laughed: "I have been learning how to do the washing and how to separate it into whites, darks and coloureds. We run a tight house but it would never have got done otherwise!"



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