• Viv Hardwick discovers how Flavia Cacace is still keen to Dance 'Til Dawn at Sunderland

THE world of dance has changed enormously over the past 20 years, mainly thanks to the sexual chemistry of Strictly Come Dancing professionals like Flavia Cacace, but would she change anything as her career with partner Vincent Simone hits the double decade?

"I think we are both very, very lucky being in the position we are in and I definitely wouldn't change anything," says the 34-year-old, who is about to bring her latest show, Dane 'Til Dawn, to the Sunderland Empire.

"I'm a great believer in the fact that everything happens for a reason and there's no need to have any regret, but 20 years is a very long time and you're going to have ups and downs. Everything leads to something and if things hadn't have gone so well in our career, from a very young age, with dance styles, competitions and everything else we wouldn't be here."

Flavia and Vincent's Strictly steps might not always have gone smoothly – the pair quit the TV phenomenon in 2013 after seven years – but their clever Midnight Tango tour, with its comedy-drama plot, has taken the couple to successful West End runs.

"I would never have believed someone (in 1994) if they'd told me this was all going to happen. Not at all. The theatre was something that was completely alien to us and it wasn't in our thoughts at all that we would have our own show. We'd only danced in the competition arena for many years and to then find ourselves on West End billboards and posters is incredible. It's actually nice that it almost happened out of the blue without us looking for it. "Now we are doing this, we've got a real bug for it," she says.

The most important part of success is that Cacace and Simone have reached the pinnacle of UK dance, winning the Professional Ten Dance, Showdance, Argentine Tango and Ballroom titles, while remaining mostly injury-free.

"We have to be as dedicated as Olympic athletes because dance is really tough on the body, especially when you're competing and doing long hours of training and rehearsal. The West End is probably easier than touring around the UK because you're doing eight shows a week and our shows are full-on. We don't really stop until the end and the most tiring part is the rehearsal period which involves three or four weeks of preparation when we are in the studio from ten until six every day. We only have Sundays off and sometimes we have late rehearsals until about 8pm. That's really gruelling and we tend to go from the rehearsal period straight into technical, which involves really long days. Then you're into the eight shows a week cycle.

"Touch wood, we've never had any serious injuries and been very lucky. We just have constant treatment for aches and pains, but all things that are manageable. There will be days when something hurts and we'll adapt our routines. Twenty years of dancing together makes that easier to deal with. It kind of becomes more about maintenance and you know what you need and when," Cacace says.

She confesses to being more nervous about dancing in public lately, partly because so much money has been invested in the dance shows.

"We found out the older we get the more conscious we are of what we are doing and because we feel lucky to have these opportunities to perform the fact that people still enjoy coming to see us dance is an added pressure. Even though the show isn't only about us - we have a wonderful cast - we do want people to come back," she says.

Dance 'Til Dawn has an enhanced 1940s Hollywood plot with Simone's Tony Deluca being framed for the murder of a film's leading man and requiring the help of Cacace's starlet Sadie Strauss to clear his name.

"Midnight Tango had a gentle plot and just one location, so we wanted to push the boundaries in Dance 'Til Dawn and take people on more of a journey. We've added a script and narration and wanted to enhance the comedy element. The show doesn't take itself too seriously, and you don't have to be a dance fanatic to come and enjoy this," says Cacace, who will be performing to well-known songs like Feeling Good, Moon River and Stand By Me.

Is dance for Cacace always strictly business or can it still be fun? "I would be lying if I said it wasn't sometimes really hard and tiring due to all the travel, but the rewards are huge."

And it's impossible to stay away from Strictly because the dancer married her celebrity partner Jimi Mistry in 2013, having set the gossip columns alight with a three-year dalliance with another celebrity partner, EastEnders actor Matt Di Angelo, in 2007.

I cheekily ask if actor Mistry has to grab a theatre seat to keep up with his leading lady in life. "Jimmy stills loves dancing, but he doesn't have much time for it. He's a great supporter of us and he brings his friends along. We do meet up here and there and we do pretty well," she laughs.

And spill the beans, who was her worst Strictly partner? "As a teacher you get used to having people of varying abilities. It doesn't matter if they're any good or not, it's more about enthusiasm. You can quite happily teach someone who is not very good for hours as long as they're enthusiastic and they're trying. On Strictly, it's rewarding when a partner is keen, but occasionally you have someone who has agreed to do the show for the wrong reasons. They haven't realised what they've let themselves in for. I would say the person (who made my life toughest) was Phil Daniels. We only lasted one week and I think it showed because he ended up putting up a barrier and switching off. Then your job becomes the hardest thing... and you end up smiling through gritted teeth," she says.

Fortunately, Cacace finished on a high having coached gymnast Louis Smith to the Strictly title in 2012. "I had nothing left to prove," she says.

  • Dance 'Til Dawn, Sunderland Empire. Tuesday to Saturday. Box Office: 0844-871-3022 and atgtickets.com/sunderland