Currently strutting his stuff in a touring production of The Rocky Horror Show, which is coming to Lighthouse Poole at the end of March, Ore Oduba’s passion for performing started back at school in Wimborne Minster where he grew up, as Steve Harris discovered when he caught up with Ore between shows
It sounds like Ore Oduba was a nightmare at school. He’s now a familiar face on television having jived his way to victory in Strictly Come Dancing, as well as presenting on the BBC Breakfast sofa. He is a broadcasting triple threat - handsome, charming, and eloquent. But growing up in Wimborne Minster, his skillset was even more formidable. He was a talented sportsman, a hockey goalkeeper and a rugby prop (one of his rugby coaches said he could have played for England school boys). He was also a performer, singing, acting and breakdancing at every opportunity. And he was head of his house at Canford School. Years later when asked what made a good prefect, pupils would talk fondly about Ore and the fact he spent time talking with them when they were just starting out at school. He certainly packed a lot into his Dorset schooldays.
‘I just loved having a go,’ the 36-year-old tells me from Glasgow where he’s getting ready for another night playing Brad Majors in the touring production of The Rocky Horror Show. ‘Whether it was on the sports field or on the stage. That was where I found my outlet and my voice. My mum and dad were dead keen on the academic side of things. But I thrived on a stage - whether that was a sporting stage or a theatre stage.’
It was because of his mum and dad that Ore ended up in Dorset. He spent his first three years in Lagos, but his dad, a lawyer, who had been educated in Nottingham, wanted Ore and his siblings to come to school in England. He’s joked in the past that his father threw a dart at a map to decide where to settle, but he admits he’s unsure of exactly what happened. ‘The necessity was a good school for us, and not too far from London.’
To this end, his parents bought a modest house in Wimborne Minster in 1989 and became the only Nigerian family in the town. ‘It was the most normal thing to not see anyone who looked like me,’ he told the BBC last year. ‘There was one other family that lived about a mile away. The mum was black and the kids were mixed race. We’ve never felt any prejudice. I think we must have lived in a very fortunate time in a very fortunate place.’
I ask him what he remembers of his formative years in Dorset. Mucking about at Tower Park ranks high, with mentions of Splashdown, Burger King and Megabowl. And he describes the Wimborne Folk Festival as ‘an absolute winner. I remember that weekend as the only sunny weekend in the year.’ But he admits that his full-on school curriculum left little free time. ‘Because of the schools I went to - Dumpton and Canford - this was a full Monday to Saturday week. We’d be playing sport on Saturday, whatever it was; rugby, tennis, hockey, cricket. Most weeks it would just be school and sport.’
Dan Culley is still a teacher at Canford School. He talks very fondly of his former pupil. ‘We used to run house plays every year and Ore would be selected by the senior pupils. When he was 16, in his GCSE year, working with a bunch of 18-year-olds, he was chosen as the lead in our pantomime.’ That panto was Cinderella, although with a chap in the lead they restyled it as Cinderfella! ‘Ore was a great singer, a very talented sportsman, and just a really nice guy as well.’ There must be something, some chink in his good-bloke-armour I muse. Apparently not. ‘Ore was driving by this stage and had parked his car on campus illegally,’ recalls Dan. ‘I thought ‘Right, I’m going to get you, Ore. I’m not going to have the head of house flouting all these rules.’ So, I went to clamp his car, as I was fiddling around getting the clamp on Ore turns up and says “Good evening, sir. Can I help you?”’
As he got older, Ore’s dreams of becoming a full-time sportsman started to slip away. ‘I got to 18 and my sporting ability plummeted!’ Instead, he switched his focus towards broadcasting. And in December 2002 he secured some work experience at BBC South, where the 6.30pm news bulletin that most of Dorset receives is put together. ‘I battered the door down. I must have messaged three or four times and they kept fobbing me off,’ he smiles. ‘Eventually I managed to get my foot in the door. I had the best time there. When I interviewed the footballer Gordon Strachan I was thinking “This is it! I’m here! The door is open, let’s go!”’
The main sports presenter at the time, Roger Johnson, even invited Ore to their Christmas party. He was thrilled at the chance to network in the slightly grubby environs of the BBC’s basement bar. ‘Then I remembered I had to pick my sister up from the shops, so had to leave early. I’ve never been more livid with her. “You just ruined my career,” I thought. “I could have been up on the tables with (presenter) Sally Taylor!” That would have been an absolute dream!’
Of course, it didn’t ruin his career. Ore moved quickly and smoothly into broadcasting as soon as he graduated from Loughborough University with a degree in Sports Science and Social Science. Within just two weeks he was presenting Newsround on the BBC. I ask a former colleague, Joe Tidy, what he was like around the office. ‘He was a ball of energy, the best alarm clock you could wish for if you were feeling a bit sleepy after an early morning shift. He would always be singing some cheesy song, usually in a deep voice that was deliberately chosen for maximum irritation.’
From Newsround, Ore slipped onto the sofa at BBC Breakfast. He tells me about a lovely moment ten years after his abortive attempt at networking at BBC South when he and Roger Johnson were both fronting the same show one Sunday. ‘I thought that was just magic,’ Ore smiles. And then we get to Ore’s Strictly journey.
He wasn’t favourite to win when his participation was announced in series 14 of Strictly Come Dancing - apart from with his former Newsround colleague Joe ('I said to my wife I bet he wins the thing.’). He wasn’t even the favourite when he reached the final a week before Christmas 2016. But Ore and his professional partner, Joanne Clifton, smashed it. He topped the leaderboard on the night - above Louise Redknapp and Hollyoaks actor Danny Mac - and got enough votes from the public to secure the Glitterball trophy. ‘Being part of Strictly was so life altering,’ says Ore. ‘This was an opportunity to learn from the world’s best dancers. And I found myself going onto that stage and not wanting to shy away. I found a real affinity and connection with dancing. I was really comfortable.’
Since then, the offers of work have come from all corners. Ore has guest presented This Morning, and Steve Wright’s show on BBC Radio 2, he’s competed in Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins and he’s rediscovered his childhood love of performance. He made his musical theatre debut in 2019, playing the role of Teen Angel in the UK tour of Grease and made his West End debut as Aaron Fox in the musical mystery comedy Curtains. It also explains why he is currently strutting around the UK in fish-net stockings and size 11 high heels as the squeaky-clean Brad Majors - who, along with his fiancée Janet Weiss, inadvertently cross paths with mad scientist Frank-N-Furter and his bunch of outrageous followers in The Rocky Horror Show.
‘It was my wife Portia who said I should do this job. If it hadn’t been for lockdown, I wouldn’t have gone for it. But Portia loved the thought of me prancing around in my pants. She thought it was hilarious. And now it’s my job to go out there wearing a corset and heels and sing The Time Warp!’
Of course, we can trace this delight in performing to a crowd in outrageous attire back to Dorset. In his first term at Canford School, Ore strapped on his sister’s platform shoes and performed the pop song You’re Out Of Your Mind. ‘I started secondary school that term, and by Christmas I was cross-dressing as Victoria Beckham to a room full of teenage boys!’ he laughs.
So, when he has hung up his heels and suspenders, what’s next for Ore? Family life is busy for sure. In October he became a dad for the second time with the arrival of daughter Genie, a little sister for his three-year-old son Roman. ‘I think the next job is going to keep me a bit closer to home,’ says Ore. ‘But beyond that... I’ve stopped trying to second guess it. Lockdown has changed me. It made me think that rather than trying to do things to the beat of someone else’s drum, I want to do something I enjoy, something that supports my family and puts a smile on my face.’
I have no doubt that this smart, genial, intelligent, singing dancer will probably do whatever he wants, and excel at it...though maybe with a few more clothes on!
The Rocky Horror Show 2022 is at Lighthouse Poole from March 28 – April 2. Book online at lighthousepoole.co.uk or call the box office on 01202 280000
Click here to read about five amazing Dorset women from a Mercury prize winner to a fossil hunter
