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Strictly‘s Amy Dowden has said she feels “pressure” to deliver because her celeb dance partner JB Gill has a boyband background.
The pro dancer and JLS star Gill wowed the judges with their first performance, getting 31 out of a possible 40 and ending up at the top of the leaderboard. However, some critics have complained that Gill has an advantage because he was in a band and also because he won the 2012 Strictly Christmas special.
Addressing it on Strictly spin-off It Takes Two, Dowden admitted she feels there is an “expectation to deliver”. But she said that Gill was just “naturally talented”.
What, how and why?
The pair were on the IT Takes Two sofa on Thursday (26 September) and host Janette Manrara asked the pro: “Craig (judge Craig Revel Horwood) is putting a little bit of pressure because he is expecting high hopes from JB because of his boyband status. Does that put pressure on you when it comes to choreographing?”
Dowden replied: “Yeah absolutely, especially being top of the leaderboard last week. There is an expectation to deliver.”
She went on: “But I can remember being in the training room in week one and being like, ‘Have you ever had a dance lesson before, other than working with a band?’ He was like, ‘No Amy, I promise’.
“He’s just naturally talented, he’s got something you can’t teach. But yes, that does put pressure on me.
“So then I do keep giving quite a lot of hard, fast steps.” Gill then chimed in, laughing: “She’s like, ‘It’s too easy, I’m going to have to change it’.”
What else did Amy Dowden say on It Takes Two?
Dowden had to miss the BBC ballroom show last year as she was going through treatment after being diagnosed with breast cancer. She was diagnosed in May 2023 and underwent a mastectomy and chemotherapy.
She said on It Takes Two that she was “just so grateful to be back” after the last year and that she “can’t stop smiling” all the time.
“I am living my best life and every day I just wake up and I am super grateful,” she said.
