I’m ready to work hard and do ‘amazing’ Strictly – I’d love to perform tribute to my daughter, says Ashley Cain
ASHLEY Cain has revealed his desire to do “amazing” Strictly Come Dancing and perform a tribute to his late daughter Azaylia.
Brave Azaylia captured the hearts of the nation and beyond when she was diagnosed with a rare form of leukaemia just months into her life.
The courageous tot was often seen with a smile on her face beside her doting parents – Ashley and ex-girlfriend Safiyya Vorajee – before sadly passing away aged just eight months.
During their time together, Ashley would often dance with his daughter in his arms and he believes no TV show is better suited to showcasing their story than the BBC‘s Strictly.
In an exclusive interview with The Sun, he said: “Me and my family are known for dancing. That’s what we do. When I had my daughter in hospital, when she was poorly, any time that she used to be feeling poorly or she was going through a chemotherapy, I used to hold her in my arms and I used to dance with her.
“And I’d dance with her for hours and hours and hours and hours. So something like Strictly would relate to me in a sense where I would love to do a Lion King-themed dance. I would love to be able to tell my story on such an amazing platform that could reach out to so many incredible people.”
Since Azaylia’s passing three years ago, Ashley has thrown himself into raising money and awareness for The Azaylia Foundation – which he co-founded with Safiyya and helps support families of children battling cancer.
He’s taken on record-breaking feats of endurance including kayaking 1,000 miles in the Yukon, Canada, in just 10 days and more recently completing a 3,000mile, 87-day effort that saw him become the first man to run, cycle and kayak from Land’s End to John O’Groats back to back.
To achieve that level of greatness has taken much sacrifice, focus and mental strength – leaving little in the way of light-hearted living.
But Ashley believes Strictly would allow that part of himself to resurface and flourish.
He said: “I would like to represent myself on a show which maybe I could smile and remember the good times and not have to be so serious for once, because that side of me has had to disappear a little bit.
“And I think that side of me is the most beautiful side of me when I’m not having to be hard, I’m not having to be tough, but actually I’m feeling love.
“I’ve been smiling and I’ve been dancing because that’s all I used to do with my daughter and that’s what I do with my family. And that’s what means the most to me.”
Much has been made of Strictly’s gruelling behind the scenes environment recently.
Having pushed himself to the very limit time and time again, not to mention an emotional appearance on Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins, Ashley is confident he has what it takes to succeed in the ballroom.
“I mean, I’m fully aware that these shows aren’t easy,” he said. “These dancers are very skilled and very fit people, and they’re absolutely incredibly talented as well.
“So I know that to be able to learn these routines would be a huge challenge in itself. And I think that’s what I thrive on and that’s what I relish the most. So it would be something where you’re not just taking a break and sitting on your a**e.
“It would be a lot of work involved too, but that’s what I love doing. So it’s that kind of ability to get better. And also it’s still a competition at the end of the day. And I’m a competitor and I love to win.”
DANGER ZONE
Before any potential dancing takes place, Ashley has the small matter of a brand new BBC docuseries to think about.
Yesterday it was confirmed that Into the Danger Zone – which will see Ashley visit some notorious cities around the world – will air next year.
It’s different to anything he’s done before but he is relishing the opportunity of getting to meet and understand people whose circumstances are truly frightening.
He said: “It’s going to be a challenge. It’s going to take me outside of my comfort zone 100%, but I had a true passion for this documentary series because I really wanted to explore these dangerous environments, and most importantly, the people and the men that are in them, because I don’t believe that some of these guys have a choice in doing the things that they do.
“And sometimes they have to do the things that they do to feed the people they love, to protect the people they love, and just to merely survive.
“So I don’t want to go in there with a judgemental perspective. I want to go in there to understand the lives of these men, understand the lives of the areas that they live in and kind of work out in this paradox of, if I was in that situation, would I be able to do the same? Would I be doing the same thing?
Being a dad for me is the greatest role that you can have as a man on this planet. And I feel lucky to have the opportunity to be able to do that again
Ashley Cain
“And I think it’s just a great opportunity to explore the world, gain perspective about a documentary that everybody will be really interested in and hopefully will give them some perspective into their own lives too.”
For the time being, Ashley’s primary focus is being with his son Aliyas, who was born in January.
During his ultraman challenge Ashley kept in touch with his little boy via Facetime after long days moving up and down the country.
But it’s no substitute for in-person contact, and less than 24 hours after finishing his challenge he drove 12 hours to be reunited with Aliyas.
“I had my son for the first four days of me being back,” he said. “So I was straight into the normal world and normal life.”
Ashley freely admits hating having spare time on his hands when there isn’t a challenge or a goal to work towards. But the arrival of Aliyas has helped to fill that void.
“The one thing that I was grateful of was coming back to my son because he made that experience, which would usually be incredibly, you know, tormenting on me, like a very pleasurable one, because I got to look after him, I got to take care of him, I got to hold him, kiss him, and just be a dad.
“And being a dad for me is the greatest role that you can have as a man on this planet. And I feel lucky to have the opportunity to be able to do that again.”
MIXED EMOTIONS
Weeks before Aliyas’s birth Ashley admitted to having conflicted feelings on parenthood following Azaylia’s passing.
There were pangs of guilt at being a dad again and all the life moments that were to come with his son.
While that is still the case, Ashley is committed to being the best father he can be to Aliyas while still honouring Azaylia’s memory.
“I always knew that Aliyas was going to be a blessing,” he said. “I didn’t realise how much of a blessing he was actually going to be.
“He’s a beautiful soul and he gives me the chance to truly be me again. He gives me the chance to just show, like, this unconditional love, which I’ve yearned to do for so long, you know, even before I had Azaylia. It’s still not easy because I see him taking his first steps in terms of, you know, he’ll be falling on the floor and I think Azaylia did that, or, you know, soon he’ll be taking his first steps walking.
“I’ll be thinking, Azaylia didn’t get to that stage. And so I still have very conflicting emotions, but it doesn’t take away from the love that I have for my son and the gratitude that I feel to be able to be a father again on this earth.
“And I love him more than anything in this world. I love both of my kids, and I’ll always continue to do that.
“But my journey of navigating to be the best daddy in heaven to my daughter and being the greatest father I can be to my son, I know it’s been a difficult one, but I don’t think I’m doing a bad job at it.”