NEW Strictly champ Bill Bailey yesterday hailed his extraordinary dancing win as “one for the dads”.
The comic, 55, returned home to wife Kristin with the Glitterball trophy and a message for middle-aged chaps.
The show’s oldest winner said: “This says to every bloke in their 40s or 50s, ‘Don’t give up’.
“You can get up and dance.
“You can do more than you can possibly imagine. And having the strength and belief can get you there.”
His Strictly victory on Saturday, alongside pro partner Oti Mabuse, caps a remarkable career for the musical stand-up star.
Before he took to the ballroom, the only success Bill had in dancing was beating pop star Sinitta at the limbo.
In his autobiography, he wrote: “It was during a charity fundraiser for a children’s hospital and I was a bit younger then and more bendy, but still.
“Each round saw the field whittled down as various denizens of the great and good fell away, until it was only me, Lionel Blair and Sinitta. After a close call, I just scraped under the bar.”
Bill’s success on Strictly was helped by the health kick he embarked after the 2017 death of his Never Mind the Buzzcocks predecessor Sean Hughes from alcohol-related cirrhosis, aged 51.
Bill said: “There is a propensity towards alcohol in comedy.
“You come off stage and someone hands you a drink.
“It’s an irregular life with huge highs and lows.
“It’s very easy to slip into bad habits.”
Bill advised: “Less profiteroles, more cycling. I live healthier now.”
So how did this wannabe rocker quickstep his way into the nation’s hearts?
And why is he called “Bill” when his real name is Mark?
He was raised in Keynsham, Somerset, by his doctor father and nurse mother.
A self-confessed swot, Bill became enthralled by music.
And it was his music teacher who christened him Bill after he mastered the song Bill Bailey, Won’t You Please Come Home on guitar.
In his teenage years, Bill quickly gave up academic ambitions to chase his dream of becoming a rock star, although his parents were not too pleased initially.
He said: “When I started to fall behind and not do so well, they were quite frustrated by it.
“But they were very understanding and were very supportive.”
After dropping out of university, Bill discovered a love of stand-up comedy and started gigging around the country.
He met Kristin — then a bar manager, now a successful costume designer — while performing in Edinburgh in 1988 and wooed her with a year-long writing campaign.
Their son Dax was born in 2003, although Bill insists he is named after an Indonesian friend — and not the Star Trek character.
The 17-year-old said of his dad’s Strictly performances: “It was the epitome of dad dancing.”
By the early 2000s, Bill’s career was taking off with roles in hit Channel 4 comedy Spaced and alongside Dylan Moran in cult comedy Black Books.
In 2002, he became a team captain on the comedy music quiz show Never Mind the Buzzcocks.
Bill left in 2008 to concentrate on touring his musical comedy shows Part Troll and Steampunk.
The entertainer is big fan of bird-watching and even wrote a guide to the hobby.
In 2010, botanists named a tropical pitcher plant after him in recognition of his work for wildlife charities.
The animal lover has a mini zoo in his home in Hammersmith, West London, with rescue dogs, cats, rabbits, ducks and chickens.
He said: “Ducks coming in the house and chickens crowing in the morning is a little bit tricky in West London.”
Coming into Strictly, many had him down as this year’s novelty act.
Judge Craig Revel Horwood told The Celeb Report: “I never saw him coming, not in a million years. I thought he would be the Ann Widdecombe of this series.”
Unsurprisingly for a comedian, Bill has had the last laugh.
