Just The Two Of Us
2nd January-7th
January 2007
Marti’s first reaction to being asked to take
part in this celebrity singing competition was ‘No’. He has made it known that
‘reality’ TV shows don’t appeal to him but when he realised this wasn't a
reality show as we've come to know them, he became interested.
Professional singers would be paired with other celebrities, who would not
normally sing publicly. Having the reference point of music and the knowledge
that he would be able to choose the songs he would sing made a big difference
for Marti. Getting to know how passionate the programme makers were about what
they were doing made him even more interested and of course singing on BBC1 for
a possible 6 consecutive nights has its attractions! In addition, proceeds from
the phone vote would go to Comic Relief.
To begin with, the
professional singers and celebrities did not know who they were to be paired
with. Marti’s partner turned out to be Hannah Waterman. Hannah is an actress,
best known for her part as Laura Beale in Eastenders but she has also had parts
in other TV dramas and some theatre. By her own admission, singing is not one of
Hannah’s strengths and she was surprised to get through the audition for Just
The Two Of Us.
When Hannah and
Marti appeared on GMTV on the morning of the first show, clips showed that
rehearsals had been a bit fraught for Hannah at times. Marti was very
encouraging though and said that Hannah had worked very hard in the 2-3 weeks
they had been in rehearsals and they agreed that they’d had a lot of laughs too.
Hannah was in fact VERY pleased to have been paired with Marti!
The other couples
taking part were:
Brendan Cole with
Beverley Knight
John Bardon with
Jocelyn Brown
Julia Bradbury with
Tony Christie
Luke Bailey with
Natasha Hamilton
Mark Butcher with
Sarah Brightman
Janet Ellis with
Alexander O’Neill
Greg Wallace with
Carol Decker
Loui Batley was
originally a contestant, too, partnered by Russell Watson, but unfortunately,
the pair had to withdraw due to Russell’s ill health.
The show was
presented by Vernon Kay and Tess Daly and the panel of judges consisted of DJ
Trevor Nelson; former drummer with The Police, Stewart Copeland; Singing coach
Cece Sammy and former Jackson Five member, Tito Jackson.
Throughout the
competition, Marti was introduced ‘Multi-platinum selling artist, Marti Pellow’.
