Behind the scenes at Strictly Come Dancing

The glamour, secrets and sequins backstage at Britain’s top TV show.

I’m in a tent a tent with a sparkly chandelier, but a tent nonetheless.

There’s a table groaning with cakes in one corner, with a framed photo of Mary Berry on it and a pristine chef’s hat. Another has cans of Coke and a huge bowl filled with Celebrations and Heroes.

Sophie Ellis-Bextor makes herself a coffee. She’s wearing not a scrap of make-up, has legs up to her neck and is sickeningly gorgeous.

Abbey Clancy tells an assistant she’s hungry and two minutes later she’s wolfing down a bowl of enchiladas like she hasn’t eaten for a week, followed by a chunk of chocolate cake.

“I’m so excited. Cake is literally my favourite thing in the world!” she shouts. She’s a size 6.

Two burly security guards are doing a comedy foxtrot together. There are lots of people milling around and an air of general madness.

That chandelier should really be a glitterball. Because this is the wonderful world of Strictly Come Dancing.

I’m here to see exactly how the Beeb’s flagship Saturday night entertainment programme is made.

The answer is with a lot of hard work, even more laughs and yet more glitter and 200 employees shimmying along to sure it remains a ratings winner.

The tent or Star Bar, as it’s called is next to the Strictly studio in Elstree, 20 minutes from central London. It’s where the celebs hang out.

You might think there’d be a lot of back-stabbing and bitchiness among the contestants as the competition hots up. I don’t see any and I really did look!

In fact, the celebs seem to spend most of their time hugging each other.

And I don’t just mean a bit of showbiz-style air-kissing. Susanna Reid and Natalie Gumede cling on to each other for dear life, as if one’s just been given some terrible news. Ditto Abbey and Patrick.

It all seems to be a total love-in and Natalie agrees it is. She’s wearing the chef’s hat from the cake table, but that’s another story.

“Everyone keeps telling me that the longer I’m in, the more competitive I’ll start becoming,” says Natalie. “It just hasn’t happened.”

Natalie looks as fresh as a daisy after her recent health scare, which meant she missed a show. She admits friends and family have helped to keep her feet on the ground.

“The whole experience is so intense I call it the Strictly bubble. You think about the show non-stop. It does me good to speak to my mum and my friends. They pull me back down to earth and remind me that actually, real life is still going on. I’m just in a TV show!”

I sneak a look at the schedule for this weekend. The couples’ names are all listed. And at the end there are three others Sparkle, Snowflake and Reindeer.

“They’re code names for contestants on the Christmas show who are here today,” says an insider. “It’s top secret. If you see any of them wandering around, keep it to yourself!”

The actual Strictly studio is a weird mix of grim and glam. We walk through gold glittery doors and corridors to get there. But behind the dancefloor and seating, there are draughty corners and grotty bins.

The dancefloor is much smaller than it appears on screen. When there’s a group dance, the fancy footwork has to be precision perfect or they’d simply bump into each other.

The audience seats aren’t the biggest, but it’s so they can cram as many people as possible in. People queue from 6am on a Saturday to try to make sure they get a seat and there’s no guarantee they will.

It’s a treat getting to see it all happen for real. As is finding out those little tips and secrets that make the whole thing tick.

Kevin tells Susanna to “imitate Iveta”, Natalie’s wild hair is plastered down with leave-in conditioner, argan oil and braided before she puts a wig on and the wardrobe department sews through the night to add crystals to improve the on-camera look of the dresses.

I watch Sophie and Brendan practise their rumba three times on the trot. They’re amazing, but I’m more distracted by the fact Brendan is far better looking in real life.

Anton du Beke, meanwhile, looks dishevelled in trackie bottoms. What a transformation when he changes.

Ben Cohen comes over for a chat. Sadly, girls, he wasn’t bare-chested.

The judges are banned so they don’t see anything before the live show. Bruce and Tess aren’t around yet.

I ask an insider if he thinks it might be Brucie’s last year. He’s indignant.

“How would you like it if people wondered who’d replace you before you’d even left your job?” he rages. “He’s part of the reason Strictly is so successful.”

Sir Bruce, who’s 85, is later quoted as saying he’s “living on borrowed time” and speculation increases that it might be his last year as Strictly supremo. But most of the insiders I speak to don’t seem to think so.

Susanna Reid pops over. As a newsy type, did she have any hesitation about signing up for Strictly?

“Are you JOKING!” she shrieks. “The minute they said ‘hello’ I was in. Not even hello, just ‘h’.”

She talks about how busy her life has been since she signed up. Still on Breakfast two days a week, rehearsals and fitting in all her “mum” stuff with her three boys.

That maybe explains why there’s a hint of grey roots showing through her dark locks. But somehow it only makes her more likeable.

She’s a hot tip to win Strictly among the insiders.

“The public love her,” says one. “At Blackpool, she got bigger cheers than the rest.”

Ah yes, Blackpool. A fine time was had by all, and they’re still talking about Sophie’s performance of her hit Murder On The Dancefloor when they all went partying after the show.

There’s a lot of chat about “the competition”, how other TV shows are doing. I thought they’d all be concerned about The X Factor. But they’re beating it so regularly in the ratings war it barely merits a mention.

No, the biggie they want to beat is I’m A Celebrity . . . Get Me Out of Here! Lots of them are watching life in the jungle, particularly their old dancing friend Vincent Simone. They claim it’s so they can see what the competition is doing to beat their beloved Strictly.

One insider says now that Vincent’s been a campmate, he’ll never tango here again!

The dancers mill around between rehearsals. The girls are all unbelievably teeny-tiny.

You can spot the ones who really get on with their partners.

Susanna and Kevin Clifton hang out, sitting at the judges’ seats and giving comedy marks for the other dancers. Mark Benton and Iveta join them, and there’s much hilarity.

Later, Kevin, wearing Harry Potter-style glasses, hangs out in the Star Bar with Mark.

Mark, though, is in a more serious mood, returning after our interview has ended.

“I want to say that some of the stuff that’s been said on the internet and by various newspapers is not acceptable. Internet bullying is cowardly,” he says, referring to the abuse both he and Dave Myers have had to put up with, as the show’s less natural dancers.

“It hasn’t soured it for me, but Dave got it, I’ve had it, Natalie’s had it. Whether you’re the best or worst dancer, you still get abuse. I won’t deny it’s upsetting.”

Kevin saunters over and the mood lightens as they both tell me how much they can’t stand each other. “And Gumede I can’t stick her,” Mark jokes as Natalie appears.

The three wander off arm-in-arm, just as a famous face walks in. Whether that’s Sparkle, Snowflake or Reindeer I’m not sure.

But, like the rest of the celebs, you can tell they’re chuffed to bits to be here.

Find out the Christmas line-up tomorrow.