Strictly viewers may not know my history but I’m warrior queen of punk & I’ll prove doubters wrong, says Toyah Willcox
BACK when young punk Toyah Willcox was putting safety pins through her nose, her Strictly dance partner Neil Jones was still wearing them in his nappies.
But despite the age gap, this 66-year-old rocker isn’t about to do an Ann Widdecombe and get dragged round the stage by her pro dancer — she’s attacking every routine.
Toyah is determined to shatter the stereotypes about older people held by quite a few of her younger counterparts — starting on last week’s Strictly when she saw off 24-year-old Tom Dean.
She said: “Everyone was completely shocked. Tom is an Olympian, but when it comes to a dance-off I’m going to give my best against anyone.
“They look at a tiny little 66-year-old who is either the same age as their mother or their granny — I fully understand that to young people I’m incredibly old, but I don’t behave like that.
“I also like that some younger people might not know who I am, because they might not know how strong I am.
“They don’t know my history, and my history is pretty good as a performer.”
‘Do whatever you want’
There was some controversy online last week when viewers claimed the judges had saved Toyah in the dance-off just to “level out” the genders as there are just six female celebrities taking part compared to nine men.
But Toyah brushed off the claims, saying the real reason she was saved was because she performed well doing the jive, which is one of the trickiest dances on the show.
Although she’s the favourite to get kicked off this weekend, Toyah isn’t about to go down without a fight.
She said: “When young people see me perhaps there is going to be ridicule — but that gives me a fabulous position to prove them wrong.”
Toyah, best known for her anthem It’s A Mystery, was a bona fide movie star and singer back in the early Seventies and early Eighties.
Along with a handful of other female performers at the time, she blazed a trail for women with her punk rock look and attitude.
And she points towards a particularly poignant moment in 1981 when she performed in Drury Lane with an incredible shock of bright orange hair and dragon make-up.
The costume team had done their research on me. They still treat me like a rock chick too which is really lovely — and I just say, ‘Do whatever you want with me’.
Toyah said: “It was powerful, it was so ahead of its time for a woman to look like that when you consider most of the world were idolising Farrah Fawcett and Olivia Newton-John.
“There I was like a warrior woman. I think I was another side of femininity — I wanted to be strong and a woman of independence.”
Unlike with so many other contestants on Strictly, the costume department know there aren’t many wild looks they can throw at Toyah which are likely to shock her.
Which is perhaps why, when she dances tonight as part of the annual Movie Week, she’ll be dressed as Ursula the sea witch from The Little Mermaid, dancing to Poor Unfortunate Souls.
Toyah said: “The costume team had done their research on me. They still treat me like a rock chick too which is really lovely — and I just say, ‘Do whatever you want with me’.
“They think it’s open season and I appreciate that. But I’d like to see them try to make me look ladylike!
Toyah admits she had no desire to live the life of a lady in the heady days of punk, particularly when she was starting out and forced to sleep in a second-hand coffin because she didn’t have a bed.
Back then, the lifestyle was all about adopting an unconventional approach and rebelling. She had a lisp, is dyslexic, got bullied at school and left with a single O-level, and was keen to turn a page on her past.
That made her more determined to succeed — and she went on to have eight top ten singles, bagging a Best British Female Artist nomination at the 1982 Brit Awards.
Music also helped her find love, in the form of King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp, who has worked with everyone from David Bowie to Blondie.
The couple have been married since 1986 — and in 2021, Toyah caused a sensation when she wore a wafer-thin top with no bra while singing with Robert during a live-streamed performance.
So will Strictly ever embrace her heritage with outfits and a performance that reflects her punk past?
She teases: “If I get through this week, the dance I will do next Saturday I have been waiting to do — it’s going to have visuals that are utterly outrageous. I can’t wait.” As well as modelling for Vivienne Westwood, Toyah’s early experiences include hanging out with music royalty, including her time filming Quadrophenia in 1979.
The cult Brit flick had an incredible line-up including an up-and-coming star called Sting, who’d just quit being a teacher to pursue a career with his band, The Police.
‘Sailing ship in a storm’
Toyah said: “Sting was so sweet. We were all in the same hotel when we were shooting in Brighton.
“Myself and another actress would meet with Sting in his bedroom and he’d be teaching us the backing vocals to Roxanne.
“He’s always been outstandingly beautiful, physically, but his ego at that time did not reflect that.
“He found it quite hard to be the [film’s] pompous bell boy then. I adored him, and I was close to him for almost 15 years after that.” Is she conscious of how many women would kill to be invited to Sting’s hotel room every night?
What Strictly has that is very punk is that, under a lot of pressure, it delivers one of the BBC’s flagship programmes — and it is live, so anything could happen.
“I was a punk rocker,” she said. “I just didn’t even think about it.”
As part of the Quadrophenia cast, Toyah was asked to help punk legend John Lydon rehearse for his screen test as the central character of mod Jimmy Cooper.
The role eventually went to Phil Daniels, but Toyah got to make a friend of the Sex Pistol — and he turned out not to be rotten at all.
She recalls: “Johnny was surprisingly lovely, an absolute gentleman.
“I first met him at his apartment just off the King’s Road.
“I arrived at ten in the morning, went into the living room, and there were members of the Sex Pistols unconscious on the floor.
“We had to step over them and went into the kitchen to rehearse. So we ran the scene and he knew all his lines already.
“The biggest problem was that no one would finance the film with him in it. But it turned out to be a blessing because Phil Daniels gave an award-worthy performance.”
But Toyah insists she won’t just be bringing some of her punk ethos to the show, because Strictly already has a similar attitude.
She said: “What Strictly has that is very punk is that, under a lot of pressure, it delivers one of the BBC’s flagship programmes — and it is live, so anything could happen.
“But the team is incredible, because all of us are sailing a ship that is in a storm from 6.20pm to 8pm — and it’s about survival at that point.”
Here’s hoping she survives this weekend so we can see that sensational punk routine next Saturday.
- Strictly Come Dancing is on BBC One tonight at 6.25pm.