I'm so excited to be filming a new BBC documentary about heading back to my Highland dancing roots

I’m so excited to reveal a brand new as yet untitled TV project I am filming this summer, where I’ll be reminiscing about my youth as a Highland dancing champion.

Twenty-five years after winning a championship, I’ll be training once again to go back and compete on the stage and dance again at a competition, taking on Highland dancers who are at the top of their game.

It’s the most exciting, physical and personal challenge I’ve faced to date, but I am ready, and determined to Fling again in this beautiful dance culture and explore the world of competitive Highland dancing as a man who adored it as a boy. 

Edinburgh TV presenter Phil MacHugh has returned to his Highland dancing roots for a new documentary he is currently filming for the BBC. | Phil MacHugh

This dance world brought me so much joy as a competitive dancer from the age of 5-15, and then I travelled the globe representing Scotland at festivals, embassies and concerts for years after.

I will also look back at my memories of Highland dancing and the competitions I took part in and dancing all over the world. I loved dancing as a kid. Whether competing or just travelling the world.

So I’m excited to be getting back into it. It’s something that feels a bit alien but also familiar at the same time. It’s never left me really.

People forget the level of fitness and the amount of training needed. It’s different from being 15 compared to now at 40, so I’ve been doing a lot of fitness work to get ready for the challenge of competing again.

So many kids do Highland dancing, especially girls, but it started in the military with men Highland dancing, the history of it lies in Scotland.

There are things you did as a kid you don’t reflect on, but you might want to do it again. Like footballers who might not have kicked a ball for years but go back into the game playing for an amateur team.

Phil loved Highland dancing as a kid, pictured here aged five on the left and 15 on the right. | Phil MacHugh

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Today, I get to dance all over again BUT the question is, can I still dance and will I be able to compete again? This is a dance journey like no other and I can’t wait to share with you how it goes when it’s broadcast on the BBC in 2026. 

I don’t know how it’s going to go, it’s very exciting and nerve-wracking. This is the right time to do it again with this project. It’s very much the beginning of this project, with filming starting a few weeks ago, building up to a competition following a 10 week fitness camp.

I guess life takes over, I have been in the world of PR for 12 years and PR and politics before that, so I’ve been on the ‘too busy’ train for a long time.

The ‘flings’ with Martin Compston in Norway and Scotland for our BBC series were successful, so I always had an idea of doing this kind of show in my mind, I want to show the intensity of training and hard work Highland dancers put in.

Thanks to @mac_television for believing in my vision for this, and @mgalba and @bbc.alba for commissioning the one hour documentary.