What a feeling! Joanne Clifton is delighted she quit Strictly

IF you’re going to quit, you might as well quit while you’re on top.

That was the philosophy of Strictly winner Joanne Clifton, who announced last month she won’t be returning to the Saturday night TV favourite.

The professional dancer and her partner, sports presenter Ore Oduba, were surprise winners of last year’s series but she’s chosen not to defend her title.

While Joanne was competing in Strictly over the past three years, she was also squeezing in acting lessons, preparing to chase her childhood dream of becoming a musical theatre performer.

She landed the lead role in Thoroughly Modern Millie’s UK tour earlier this year and now she’s the star of Flashdance, the stage adaptation of the hit ’80s movie.

“It was a big decision to leave Strictly,” admitted the 33-year-old from Lincolnshire.

“But when I reach a goal, my mind goes on to the next thing.

“For example, at the World Championships, while I was on the podium I told myself there and then I wasn’t going to carry on.

“My goal has always been musical theatre, so when I won Strictly I thought it was time to move on.

“I had won the glitterball and I’d previously won the Christmas special. It sounds awful but I felt there was nothing else to do.

“To be honest, I’m not sure what decision I would have made about my future had I not won last year.

“My manager said in 2014 when I moved back to England that I should do three or four years maximum on Strictly and keep working on my musical theatre, training really hard, so that’s what I’ve done.”

It’s no surprise Joanne was distracted from her dream of musical theatre while growing up.

Her parents, Keith and Judy, are former world No. 1 dancers and her elder brother, Kevin, is also a professional.

He and his wife, Karen, are dancers on Strictly, so being around family must have made it an even harder decision to leave.

“My brother’s only a year older than me and we’ve always got on so well. He’s always been my inspiration.

“Kevin used to cringe when I started singing but after seeing me perform in Millie for the first time, he became emotional backstage and told me I was making the right decision.

“He said I looked so happy, so I should go for it.”

Just days into the Thoroughly Modern Millie tour and Joanne had unknowingly laid the groundwork for her next job.

“The producers of Flashdance came to see me in Millie in the first or second week,” she explained.

“I guess they saw enough to invite me for an audition and it went from there.

“My dad always told me every performance is important as you never know who is in the audience and that just shows it to be true, as it was probably a midweek matinee performance they came to watch.

“Millie was such an amazing experience and I cried on stage the last day, but I already had Flashdance lined up so didn’t have time for the post-show blues that I’ve heard so much about.”

Flashdance tells the story of 18-year-old Alex, a welder by day and dancer by night, who dreams of going to the prestigious Shipley Dance Academy and turning professional.

When a romance complicates her ambitions, she harnesses it to drive her dream.

Some of the iconic songs in the soundtrack include Maniac, Manhunt, Gloria and the title track, Flashdance – What A Feeling.

The tour opens in Glasgow and, after a lot of hard work, Joanne can’t wait for the opening night curtain to come up in front of a Scots crowd.

“The rehearsals were absolutely shattering,” she said. “It was a shock just how much dancing was involved, but I suppose I should have had an idea from the title!

“There are lots of different styles of dance I’ve never done before and the character is completely different to Millie.

“Alex is cool and sexy, but I can relate to her determination because I was an untrained musical theatre performer, although I tried to take as many private lessons as I could.

“I’m a massive fan of the film. For any dancer, and non-dancers, it’s so iconic – the songs, the audition scene – I love it.

“From my own experience playing Millie, Glasgow is the perfect place to open Flashdance because the audiences are so lovely and everyone always has a great time.”