Jennifer Grey reveals one thing she wishes she’d told Patrick Swayze: ‘I’m so sorry’ | Films | Entertainment
Dirty Dancing, which helped cement Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey as huge international stars, airs once again today on Channel 5, from 3pm. It follows the story of teenager Frances ‘Baby’ Houseman, played by Grey, as she arrived at a resort with her family in the earlier Sixties. Frances becomes tired of her family, and unhappy at the unwanted attention given to her by the hotel owner’s grandson, but learns the art of “dirty dancing” by instructor Swayze’s Johnny Castle.
The 1987 film was a huge commercial success, and even claimed an Academy Award for Best Original Song, with the gong going to it for the track (I’ve Had) The Time of My Life.
While the chemistry between Swayze and Grey on screen was electric, the actress once admitted that away from the cameras the pair endured a difficult relationship.
Swayze heartbreakingly passed away as a result of pancreatic cancer in 2009, aged just 57, and tributes were paid to him.
Speaking earlier this year, Grey discussed the tension between herself and Swayze, discussing what she wanted to say to Swayze were she ever able to.
She said: “The same way Baby and Johnny were not supposed to be together, they weren’t natural… a natural match, right?
“And we weren’t a natural match. And the fact that we needed to be a natural match created a tension.
“Normally when someone’s not a natural, you… both people move on, but we were forced to be together.”
The friction between the pair, Grey claimed, only strengthened their characters on screen.
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This caused even more frustration for both Hollywood stars, as Swayze was married to dancer Lisa Niemi, while Grey was in a relationship with acting royalty Matthew Broderick.
Grey continued: “And the weird thing was, it’s like, ‘What’s wrong with me?’
“I mean, I was not lacking. And he was married, and very in love with his wife. I was very busy with Matthew.
“Like, what could be more different.”
She added: “I learned so many things about myself from my relationship with Matthew.
“First of all, we were really young. We were in our mid-twenties when we got together.
“And from where I sit now, that’s pretty young. I was really in love with him. He was in such a high moment of his career. And he was just this genius.”
After the film’s release in the late Eighties, its popularity continued to grow, and by 1988 it was the number one video rental, going on to become the first film to sell one million copies on VHS.
A decade after its release, Swayze’s acclaim was so high he was awarded with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and at the time Dirty Dancing was still selling more than 40,000 VHS copies a month.
The music in Dirty Dancing was so loved that (I’ve Had) The Time of My Life is listed as the “third most popular song played at funerals” in the UK.
Dirty Dancing airs today on Channel 5 from 3pm.
