But Kevin had the last laugh after winning the Glitterball trophy with Stacey Dooley last year!
Professional Strictly Come Dancing star Kevin Clifton has revealed he failed two auditions for the hit BBC series.
Kevin and his fellow dancers were all interviewed for a special Strictly documentary, which aired on Saturday night.
While speaking to Aljaz Skorjanec, the dancer said the first time he applied for the show was with then-wife Karen Hauer.
"She got the job, I didn't get it. I had long black hair, eyeliner, black fingernails," he shared.
"They said, 'Yeah we'd love to take Karen. But not that guy - we have no need for this gothic scarecrow who thinks he's the rock star of the ballroom.'"
The dancer then said he was turned down a second time when he auditioned the following year.
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"Next year you and Janette both got the job, I got told no again.
"I got turned down twice. And then they went to film the trailer for the show that year. The idea for the trailer was that all these Strictly stars would be dancing with an invisible partner, who's it gonna be?
"That invisible partner was me. I just wanted a job. That's me in the Morphsuit, carrying all the Strictly pros about, but being rubbed out of the trailer. And then about two, three days later is when I got the call [to be on the show]."
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But it was Kevin who had the last laugh after picking up the Glitterball Trophy with partner Stacey Dooley last year.
Prior to that, the dancer was runner up in 2013 with Good Morning Britain Susanna Reid, in 2014 with Saturdays singer Frankie Bridge, in 2015 with actress Kellie Bright and again in 2016 with singer Louise Redknapp.
