There’s something about watching an underdog learn and grow that brings out the best in all of us. Year after year, the lineup on Strictly Come Dancing features a healthy mix of professional dancers, celebrities with aptitude and a few comedy turns with no hope of making it within sniffing distance of the final.

It’s the latter category that the BBC TV show does so well. Unlike its Saturday night contemporary, The X Factor, where less able contestants send mental health alarm bells ringing, Strictly’s ‘losers’ are winners in their own right, picking up a new skill, getting fitter and dancing their way into the public’s heart.

Waterloo Road star Mark Benton was one such case in the recent series. So it’s great to see that alongside more proficient celebrity contestants (Abbey Clancy, Natalie Gumede), Benton will be joining the show’s upcoming live tour.

Best known for his off-kilter moves to MC Hammer’s ‘U Can’t Touch This’, Benton will be reprising the routine on stage. ‘So many people come up to me and say they loved it,’ he says, ‘that it would be rude not to do it. But we’d love to put more content into the dance on the live show.’

Benton lost three stone working on the show, and won himself a legion of fans, who he’ll be looking to at the SSE Hydro, where audiences can vote for their favourites via their phones.

‘I’m looking forward to the dates in Glasgow,’ he says. ‘It’s where we film Waterloo Road and it’s a great city. I’m half Scottish, my mum’s from Ayrshire, so I have strong ties to Scotland and it will be thrilling to be back.’

SSE Hydro, Glasgow, Sat 1–Sun 2 Feb