Strictly’s Robin Windsor lived on Lidl beans on toast & washed pots until 3am before big break saw him earn £5K a minute
STRICTLY Come Dancing star Robin Windsor went from surviving on Lidl beans on toast and washing dishes until 3am to being paid £5,000 a minute after landing his big break.
The dancer, whose death at the age of just 44 has sent shockwaves through the entertainment world today, made it thanks to hard graft and the support of his devoted mum.
Robin, from Ipswich, Suffolk, displayed talent from the age of three which impressed his dance loving parents.
He said: “One day I was standing in front of the mirror and was wiggling my hips.
“I love dancing to music and have been wiggling my hips ever since.”
His mum Lorraine put in long shifts at a garage so that he could study at Ipswich School of Dancing.
Robin once revealed: “She worked an awful lot of hours in a petrol station and earned very little.
“She would give me half of her salary each week so that I was able to have my dance lessons.”
His dad was a lorry driver and it was struggle to afford the £700 tail suit needed for ballroom competitions.
It seemed to pay off, though, when he picked up a string of junior ballroom and latin dance awards.
All or nothing
Aged 16, Robin decided to move to London in the hope of making his dreams come true.
Determined not to receive any more financial support from his mum, Robin took on several different jobs in order to make ends meet.
These included selling shoes at a Barratts shoe shop, washing dishes in hotel kitchens until three o’clock in the morning and working in bars.
At the same time he was practising his dancing, so he’d only get “about four or five hours of sleep each night”.
Robin became good enough to represent England in the ballroom at international level.
Despite that he struggled to earn enough money for food and at one stage became “very thin”.
He told how he lived off beans on toast and discounted food from his local Lidl store in Streatham, south London.
There were days we had to choose between practising and earning enough money to eat
Robin Windsor
Robin said: “I remember going to the Lidl store at the end of the day with my dance partner to catch all of the stuff they had reduced to get rid of.
“There were days we had to choose between practising and earning enough money to eat.”
After three years living on the bread line and sofa surfing, Robin almost gave up hope of becoming a professional dancer.
He’d racked up huge credit card debts, which his mum had to help him pay off.
It became clear that the wannabe star needed a full-time job, so he quit rehearsals.
Big break
Thankfully, Robin bumped into his former dance partner and she urged him to give it another go.
In 2000 she was offered a slot on the Burn The Floor theatre show – and the pair never looked back.
He said: “Persistence was my key to success, and this will be your strength to keep going through the inevitable heartbreak you will feel from time to time.”
Persistence was my key to success, and this will be your strength to keep going through the inevitable heartbreak you will feel from time to time
Robin Windsor
Robin toured the world as part of the critically acclaimed troupe for nine years and was asked to help choreograph So You Think You Can Dance in Australia.
That led him to be picked to join the British version of Strictly Come Dancing in 2010.
He partnered fellow Strictly star Kristina Rihanoff professionally for many years and was also close pals with Artem Chigvintsev.
During his first year on Strictly, Robin earned £100,000 thanks to the show’s salary and other events such as tours and private events.
My dance partner and I were once paid £10,000 each to stay in a luxury resort
Robin Windsor
A part on Strictly meant Robin became so sought after that he was once paid £5,000 a minute for an appearance.
He said: “My dance partner and I were once paid £10,000 each to stay in a luxury resort in Mauritius for a week and dance the cha-cha-cha at an event. Our dance lasted two minutes.”
But he stumbled while filling in his tax returns and ended up with a huge bill of £100,000 in 2013.
Depression
Around this time Robin ended his engagement to ex Davide Cini and slipped into depression.
He said: “We all have dark days but I was having dark weeks. I would end up not getting out of bed for four or five days at a time.”
A year later a slipped disc resulted in Robin being forced to quit Strictly.
It was a devastating blow for the star, who had reached the semi-final with soap actress Lisa Riley in 2012.
We all have dark days but I was having dark weeks. I would end up not getting out of bed for four or five days at a time
Robin Windsor
Thankfully surgery meant he was able to cha-cha-cha again.
He said: “They had to cut me open, shave part of the disc off, sew me back up and send me on my way.
“There was a time when I was laying on the floor, wriggling around in an enormous amount of pain.
“It goes through your head: dancing is my life and if something goes wrong with the operation or anything like that, I did fear that I wouldn’t be able to ever dance again.”
Denied return
Robin wanted to return to the BBC show, but at the age of 35 he said he was considered past his best.
“I absolutely wanted to go back,” he admitted. “I was ready to do it but unfortunately they’ve said they want some fresh faces on the show.”
Robin later found love again with X-Factor star Marcus Collins on Twitter – thanks to Dragons Den’s Deborah Meaden, his Strictly partner in 2014.
Marcus had spotted a picture on the social media app of Robin on the cover of Gay Times, and decided to tweet him.
It goes through your head: dancing is my life and if something goes wrong with the operation or anything like that, I did fear that I wouldn’t be able to ever dance again
Robin Windsor
“After my last relationship ended I was on the rebound and on the warpath thinking, I must find a boyfriend,” Robin recalled.
“Deborah Meaden told me to get myself together, concentrate on work, forget about men, and enjoy life. As soon as I did that, Marcus came along.”
While the pair discussed marriage, the relationship was short-lived and they split after 18 months together.
All Robin really ever wanted to do was dance – just like when he was a kid.
He said: “When someone puts music on and I dance to it, all of the bad things in the world disappear.
“I love dancing, I feel I was born to dance and I can express how I feel through dance.”
It is not known how Robin died.
Read more on Robin Windsor
- Co-star James Jordan leads tributes for dancing pro James Jordan
- The Strictly star posted on social media just days before he passed
- Inside Robin’s relationship with ex-boyfriend & X-Factor star Marcus Collins
- He was forced to quit Strictly ‘or risk ending up in wheelchair’
- Susanna Reid fought back tears on today’s Good Morning Britain after learning of the death
- Photos show Robin smiling on cruise just weeks before his passing