FRED and Ginger who? With their instinctive knowledge of each other’s style and a professional relationship that has stayed strong through thick and thin, Vincent Simone and Flavia Cacace are a true dancing partnership.

Despite their 11-year personal relationship publicly breaking down after Flavia fell for her celebrity dancer Matt Di Angelo, Strictly Come Dancing stars Vincent and Flavia carried on dancing together, and their scorching new show comes to the Cliffs Pavilion this month.

Their signature tango routines have already dazzled audiences on Strictly, and Midnight Tango is their most ambitious show.

“The show’s been on the road for about ten weeks,” says Flavia. “We’ve had amazing feedback. We’re so excited about it.

“It’s a great show. It’s very, very different to what people expected. We’re so excited about the whole thing.”

Vincent says: “It’s not a typical dancing show. There is lots of Argentine tango, which is a beautiful dance just on its own. We’ve got an amazing live band that is worth the ticket price alone.

“We’ve got amazing actors as well. It’s a complete show. It’s more of a musical. It’s not just the dance.”

Midnight Tango transports the audience to a Buenos Aires bar, where the action unfolds.

Flavia says: “Two storylines run through alongside each other, all told through dance.

“There’s a young couple, who are actors, and there’s light and shade throughout the whole show. There are moments of comedy. It gets very sad and there’s an awful lot to look at on stage. Lots of different things going on.”

It’s a change from Strictly, where the pair have to take a non-dancing celebrity under their professional wing and turn them into star performers for the judges.

Although they both love the show, Vincent admits it’s good to be dancing with Flavia again.

The two met when they were in their teens and have danced together ever since, meaning their connection is phenomenal.

Vincent says: “On Strictly, our job is to teach someone who’s never danced before and take them up to a good level where we could win the competition.

“It’s never going to be as beautiful as dancing together. What we have is amazing.

“Although having said that, some of the celebrities... you can’t believe the level they do get to – Kara Tointon, Rachel Stevens and Alesha Dixon for example.”

Flavia say: “It’s very good to dance with someone you’ve danced with for such a long time.

“I think it’s a very unique thing we have. For the rest of the year we dance together.

“We do shows and we teach together. Strictly is a whole different ball game.

“The great thing about your professional partner is you can push yourselves to the limit. We’ve pushed all the boundaries with a celebrity, but you’re there to make sure they’re OK and it’s really pleasant to go back to your professional partner.”

The pair are adamant their past relationship and painful break-up have not impacted on their professional bond. “If anything, it’s better,” says Flavia. “It was hard at the time, but in the long run it was for the better. Now we’re dancing the best we’ve ever danced.”

But the pair still love getting back to the fun of Strictly, with its thrills and spills, glamour and excitement.

Flavia lists her ideal celebrity as a sports star.

She says: “It would be fun to see how different their mental attitude is. I think they’d be more up for having a telling off and might cope better on the Saturday night performance.

“Sports people are used to having to perform and get something right in a short space of time, whereas actors can do takes and try things again.”

Vincent, on the other hand, says he doesn’t mind who the celebrity is as long as they have fun together. He says: “I had so much fun with Natalie Cassidy. I wish I could go back in time and do it all over again.

“It was the same last year with Felicity Kendal. She was so sweet and she wanted to do so well.

“It would be nice to have someone like Rachel Stevens again – a singer or someone who’s been on stage performing who knows about performing. I’ve never had anyone nasty. ”

For now though they’ll be wowing crowds with their own special chemistry. Vincent says: “Flavia and I work together with the music and everything works beautifully.

“You can see that. That’s why we’re so popular in the dancing world. We’ve got that special thing that makes it special.

“We’ve been dancing for 16 years now – almost half of my life.

“All this time we’ve been connecting and teaching and dancing – we follow each other beautifully.”

Flavia says: “There’s not many couples who’ve danced together for 16 year.

“It does make a big difference. It makes it much easier and quicker to choreograph, nd also balance and control.”

Midnight Tango Cliffs Pavilion, Station Road, Westcliff.

July 18-23. 8pm.

Wed and Sat mat 2.30pm. £19.50-£29.50 01702 351135