26 September 2023 , 19:35
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If Bobby Brazier’s showbiz career doesn’t work out – spoiler alert: it definitely will – he should become a cult leader.
Every Strictly fan I know has fallen instantly head over heels under his spell.
This isn’t just star quality, the X Factor, charisma; this is something extra special, almost magical. Mesmerising. Soul enriching. I feel like I’m becoming a better person just by spending (televisual) time in his joyous company.
EastEnders actor Bobby has an extraordinary openness and vulnerability, a gracious, adorable pureness and honesty that seems utterly authentic. His positivity is the opposite of toxic. Nothing appears to be put on, constructed or exaggerated, this is apparently just who he is. Absolutely beautiful, inside and out.
At 20 years old, with the world at his feet, Bobby could be cocky and arrogant, instead he comes across as egoless, modest to his core.
EastEnders' Jake Wood's snap of son has fans pointing out the pair's likeness
When he won his National Television Award he said it was all down to his dad, when he won the Strictly judges’ praise, he gave all the credit to the choreography and teaching of his professional partner Dianne Buswell.
Most Strictly competitors have been watching the show for decades – waiting, planning, hoping. Bobby has never seen it before. “My first ever experience of Strictly is on Strictly,” he admitted, with a grin.
When Dianne announced with great fanfare that their first dance would be… drumroll… THE FOXTROT!!!! he gazed back at her blankly, huge smile on his face as always, because he had no idea what The Foxtrot, or any other dance for that matter, was. Of course you couldn’t help but be reminded of someone, and marvel at the power of nature not nurture.
Bobby is all the best bits of mum Jade Goody, the bits that made us love her, the bits we miss.
And surely another part of his appeal is that losing the mother who adores you at just five years old would give anyone the right to be furious with the world, but Bobby is somehow able to be delighted by life.
He could be bitter, instead he’s grateful. He hasn’t just survived this heart-breaking tragedy, he’s managed, against all odds, to thrive.
A big reason for this was sitting in the Strictly audience, bursting with pride, last Saturday night. Jeff Brazier watched in awe as the son who didn’t know what a Foxtrot was a week before gracefully and confidently executed a pretty much perfect one before his eyes.
And a clue to how this boy has grown into the man he is: Jeff cried. Openly, on primetime telly, not wiping away his tears or being in any way ashamed of his emotion. Such an important thing for young men – and old men, all men – to see. What an example. No wonder Bobby is like this.
If you haven’t already succumbed – which can only mean you haven’t watched him yet – get ready for Braziermania. Resistance is futile. Being declared bankrupt due to voting for him so many times seems like the very least I could do.