Simon Rimmer: The Sunday Brunch host and Mollie King have remained firm friends after Strictly (Image: BBC)
Simon Rimmer appeared on the 2017 season of Strictly Come Dancing, alongside the likes of Mollie King, Gemma Atkinson and eventual winner Joe McFadden. In an exclusive interview with Express.co.uk, the Sunday Brunch host opened up about life after the BBC series and who he has stayed in contact with. The 55-year-old said The Saturdays hitmaker was a “close friend” and she was even referred to as a sister by his daughter, Florence. He described the class of the 15th run as a “pretty tight group” but admitted it felt like “cheating” when they saw the professionals with their latest celebrity partners.
My actual daughter calls Mollie King her sister and has done for years
Simon Rimmer
“We do have a WhatsApp group,” Simon started. “Which isn’t massively active - it was until this series started [in September].”
Describing the pros as “amazing”, the TV chef commented: “But then you see them dancing with someone else and you feel like they’re cheating on you!
“The first time I saw Karen [Clifton] having little private jokes with Charles [Venn], I was thinking, how dare you? I thought I was special.”
Likening the situation to a holiday romance, the father-of-two said all his famous co-stars “said the same thing”.
He continued: “When that started that that was really hard. I’m
