Jo Willacy is our deputy editor turned dancer. Jo fills us in on all things shuffles, swings and sequins. This week, she and her husband attempt to master 'armography'.

Lord Leonard of Goodmanshire (as he's affectionately known in our house) but better known to most as Strictly's head judge, Len Goodman, made an appearance at this week's dance lesson. Of sorts.

My husband, Gavin, donned Len on his chest, in the form of one of his recent 40th birthday presents: a Len Goodman 'Seven' T-shirt, complete with glitter ball. And as we (almost) perfected the tricky, and super-fast, steps to a new cha cha cha routine, Gav whispered in my ear: 'I think we got away with that. If Len had been watching, he'd have said, “I noticed a slight slip-up there but you covered it up well.”' My husband certainly knows how to sweet-talk me.

Len, however, wouldn't have been quite so pleased with our 'armography', that to which fellow 'baddie' judge, Craig Revel Horwood, so often refers. All our teacher, Maxine, asked us to try, once we'd grasped the footwork, was to touch the palms of our hands together at the one point in the routine where we were facing one another. Sounds so easy, doesn't it? But, believe me, it's just like that skill of rubbing your stomach while patting your head – not as straightforward as it looks. Every attempt at getting the hands right sent our feet into automatic panic mode, stumbling their way through anything but a cha cha cha. The lovely Latin cross and ronde we'd momentarily cracked just minutes before was gone.

Ah well, there's always next week. Or a bit of time spent in our practice studio, affectionately known as our kitchen.

Picture credit: Ian West/PA Images

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About the author

Jo Willacy is our very own deputy editor turned dancer. Jo fills us in on all things shuffles, swings and sequins as she – and her husband – progress from rookies at rumba to stars at salsa.