You may have heard or more likely seen the video of a British couple who became a YouTube sensation by imitating the Dirty Dancing routine for their first dance at their wedding reception in 2005.
One of the guests filmed them doing the well rehearsed set and uploaded it to YouTube, where it was seen by almost 3 million people and counting.
The couple spent six months practising before their wedding, and are both massive fans of the film.
Here is the original video of them performing the routine in all it’s camp glory:
Dirty Dancing Wedding Video
US chat show host Oprah Winfrey recently invited James Derbyshire and Julia Boggio on to her show to re-enact the routine with Jennifer Gray, who played Baby in the 1987 film.
Patrick Swayze Cutting In
The couple duly obliged, but there was one massive surprise waiting for them as Patrick Swayze, who played the heartthrob Johnny Castle in the original emerged from backstage to cut in and sweep Ms. Boggio off her feet.
Mr Derbyshire told the South Wales Echo:
“We were halfway through when the audience started screaming. Julia stopped dancing and was frozen in my arms. I felt a tap on the shoulder and Patrick Swayze asked if he could cut in.”
“I pretended I was jealous and sulking at the side. Then he looked at me and I shouted ‘let’s do the lift’. So I ran towards him and he put his arms out and he lifted me up.”
“The reason he went on the show is because he liked the video. He said he loved what we had done and wanted to meet us. He’s a fabulous bloke and is so nice.”
An Oprah YouTube Special
This surprise was part of an Oprah YouTube special, mainly to launch Oprah’s YouTube channel, whose launch we covered when it was first announced.
The special also featured YouTube co-founders Chad Hurley and Steven Chen, who became billionaires after Google paid a fortune for the site.
So if making and uploading your own video for your own enjoyment isn’t enough, just remember that it can also make childhood dreams come true. Without YouTube, Ms. Boggio would never have met, let alone been lifted up by Patrick Swayze.
