The lovely Debbie McGee has long been known as one of the most glamorous magician ' s assistants of all time .

Now the graceful star is putting her other skills to use after decades of disappearing and reappearing at the command of her late husband , Paul Daniels .

However , she has many more skills up her sleeve that don ’ t involve any magic at all - having started out as a ballet star and gone on to host many TV and Radio shows .

Debbie was revealed to be a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing ’ s fifteenth series on 21 August 2017 .

Debbie is said to be accomplished in the art of magic herself - reportedly performing at corporate cabaret events in her own right . She has also hosted radio shows , co-written novels , and has featured on shows following Paul ’ s death including Celebrity Carry On Barging and Celebrity MasterChef . She was partnered with dance professional Giovanni Pernice - with the show beginning to air on 9 September 2017 .

While her ballet past might be different from ballroom , Debbie hoped to give fellow stars including actress Gemma Atkinson and This Morning star Ruth Langsford a run for the glitter ball trophy .

Philip Morris , the one-time circus ringmaster who made gorilla suits in his basement as he built the world ’ s largest costume distributorship , died late Sunday at his Mooresville home . He was 83 .

A showman to the end , Morris delighted in turning napkins into ghosts and pulling quarters out of kids ’ ears even as he struggled with Alzheimer ’ s disease in his final months .

“ He ’ s up in heaven right now entertaining the angels ,” said his son , Scott Morris . “ That was my dad .”

In 1967 , the company says , a customer named Roger Patterson bought a custom gorilla suit that was used to film the famously grainy footage of a hairy “ Bigfoot ” striding through the northern California woods .

Over the years , the business grew . The basement operation moved to a small shop , then to a retail store on Monroe Road and a 300,000-square-foot distribution center in University Research Park . Scott Morris and his sister Terri Bate now own the business , but their dad worked until about 18 months ago .

With Halloween approaching , it ’ s the company ’ s busiest time of year . The 250 employees are shipping costumes all over the world .

8 VANISH Magazine www . VanishMagazine . com

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