Twenty - Two year-old Rai Quartley has her fingers in many pies. She has worked with some of Britain’s biggest names as a professional dancer, choreographer and model, and she also has plans to launch a career as a singer. Sport.co.uk would most certainly buy the single, before politely enquiring if she is as well. We caught up with Rai to congratulate her on her prestigious nomination as Sport.co.uk’s Hot Babe of the Week and to discuss, well, this and that…
Hi Rai. How are you?
RQ: Very good, thank you. Bit tired.
Do you follow sport at all?
RQ: I’m kind of a Manchester United supporter, I guess. But not a big one.
(Resisting urge to gloat as an Everton fan) Have you ever met any players?
RQ: I’ve met Ashley Cole.
He didn’t send you any texts, did he?
RQ: No, he refrained from that!
What was he like?
RQ: Quite short, actually. Only a little bit taller than me. I was quite surprised. He’s a bit…hmmm…he likes his ladies, put it that way. Likes the attention.
Yes, that has been rather apparent of late. So, tell us about Ruby Girls.
RQ: We started two and a half years ago. We started running dance classes on Monday evenings, then we decided to start training some girls up after class so it became a dance company. I started to get a lot of calls asking us to be in music videos and shows and stuff; we’ve worked with lots of different artists like Tinchy Stryda, N-Dubz and Peter Andre – we went on tour with him – and we just auditioned for Britain’s Got Talent. We’re doing a show at the Hammersmith Appollo this week with the comedian Stephen K. Amos.
What were N-Dubz like? They seem to get up people’s noses a bit.
RQ: I didn’t know who they were when I first met them! That was quite embarrassing. I was on the ‘Number One’ video with them and Tinchy Stryda. They’re cool. Dappy was opening his heart to me about his kid. His girlfriend was a crazy fan that he met.
When you were first introduced to Dappy, did you find it hard to believe that he’s famous?
RQ: (Laughs) Yeah. Well, like I said, I didn’t know who they were. They’re an odd bunch but they’re really nice and down-to-earth.
Am I right in saying you’ve been a backing dancer for both Pink and Katy Perry?
RQ: Yeah, at the MTV Music Awards. That was one of my first big jobs.
Any juicy stories? Ridiculous diva demands, fierce bitching, that kind of thing?
RQ: Pink was hilarious. She’s really full on. There’s no shying away with her. But Katy Perry was very plain. Plainly dressed. She’s not without personality but she was very quiet. She didn’t demand anything and kept her head down all the time. I thought she’d be loud and crazily dressed.
So she’s devoid of personality as well as talent?
RQ: Oh no, she is talented!
You said you went on tour with Peter Andre. What’s it like to be in the presence of a genius?
RQ: I love Peter Andre! He’s an absolute sweetheart. He just needs to be loved. Someone to look after him. He lost two and a half stone when we first starting working with him. He was really skinny. He just stopped eating.
Moving on to perhaps my favourite thing on your CV - you were in a Coco Pops advert! Which one?
RQ: It was when they changed the name to Choco Krispies…
Boooo! You’ve lost my respect now.
RQ: It was one of the ‘shall we change it back?’ ones! There was a telephone vote but we’d already filmed the answer!
The dastards! They really pulled the wool over a nation’s eyes, there.
RQ: I was quite young then so I wasn’t really clued up.
Did they pay you in money or cereal?
RQ: Money.
Would you have taken cereal?
RQ: Er…no.
Fair enough. What else might we have seen you in?
RQ: There’s a Panasonic advert that gets repeated on Sky Movies that I’m in. I can’t think of anything else off the top of my head. We had our semi-final audition on Britain’s Got Talent last week; they kept us in a room for eight and a half hours doing nothing before they showed the results live. They said we were the best dance act they’d seen this season but they can’t put us through.
Why?
RQ: We’re not allowed to ask them why. We’re not allowed to ask them any questions. One of the producers came up to us and explained that they don’t want a dance act to win this year so they couldn’t put us through. There’s no justice!
Maybe they’d just found something truly amazing. Like a juggling dog.
RQ: Maybe. Maybe.
You’ve got your fingers in many pies, then. Are you plotting an entrepreneurial route or do you just take things as they come?
RQ: I would like to be an entrepreneur. In fact, I like to think I am one. It's just nice to get involved in different projects and not stick to one thing. I get bored otherwise.
Do you plan to do more with your singing?
RQ: Yeah. I’m focusing on becoming an artist this year, get an album together and approach record labels, see what happens. I want to do a 1940s ‘Hit the Road, Jack’ kind of thing infused with a modern, up-tempo house beat track. I love the whole burlesque thing.
Anything else we should know about you?
RQ: I think I have a sixth sense.
Do tell.
RQ: I see numbers on people’s heads sometimes. It’s quite weird. I can’t control it.
Hmmm. Rai Quartley, thank you.