Strictly Come Dancing: Judging Judge Rinder

TV’s Judge Rinder is taking part in the new series of Strictly Come Dancing – and says he was first taught to dance by the School nurse at QE.

Robert Rinder (OE 1989-1994) joins celebrity contestants including former chancellor Ed Balls and singers Anastacia and Will Young in the prime time show.

In an interview before the show with BBC Radio 1’s Scott Mills, Robert said that his previous dance experience was limited, but that he had been taught some basic dancing by his nurse at QE, Mrs Cornish. "I didn't really suit childhood terribly well so I'd go and sit in her room. She taught me how to Cha Cha, so I can do that one," he said.

Appearing on the first episode of the 14th series, Robert told a TV audience that peaked at 10.1 million: “I love Strictly because it’s absolute joy and escapism.”

The first show was held to introduce the celebrity line-up to the viewers and to pair them up with their professional dance partners. The celebrities and their partners now have three weeks to master their first routine before the live shows begin.

It was announced that Robert’s partner will be a newcomer to the show, Oksana Platero, a Ukrainian who has appeared on the US TV series Dancing with the Stars for five series, and has also worked as a choreographer for the American version of So You Think You Can Dance.

“I just can’t wait to swap the courtroom for the ballroom,” he said. “Anybody that has watched my programme knows that I am very, very serious about the law and I am always right! It will be interesting to see how the judges of Strictly judge me.”

He added that he did not take his participation in the show lightly: “If you enter a competition like this, you want to win it, don’t you?”

Robert Rinder sprang to fame when the Judge Rinder daytime show was launched two years ago. In it, he presides over cases such as disputes over consumer issues, personal and business fall-outs and allegations of negligence. The combination of hapless litigants and Robert’s waspish wit made the ITV show an instant hit. More recently, he completed a new ten-programme series called Judge Rinder’s Crime Stories, in which he looked into cases that included real-life murders.

Although not a judge, Robert is a highly successful criminal barrister and in fact has himself appeared as counsel in murder cases and other cases of serious violence, usually for the defence.  These included the manslaughter of detainees in Iraq by British servicemen and the New Year’s murders of 17-year-old Letisha Shakespeare and 18-year-old Charlene Ellis in a drive-by shooting in Birmingham in 2003.

His practice at 2 Hare Court, his London barristers’ chambers, has, however, focused mainly on international fraud, money-laundering and other financial crime. He was instructed by the British Government as counsel to the Turks and Caicos Islands’ Special Investigation and Prosecution Team, which was established by the Foreign Office to prosecute allegations of bribery, international corruption and fraud. In the UK he has advised on and appeared in cases involving fraud against the NHS, counterfeit medicines, multi-million-pound money laundering and pension fraud.