Strictly Come Dancing star Jaime Winstone has addressed being in the dreaded dance-off during this weekend’s competition. The actress and her dance partner, reigning champion Carlos Gu, secured the lowest number of public votes alongside celebrity hair stylist Chris Appleton and his partner Amy Dowden.
They performed their routines again, with Jaime and Carlos dancing to Pretty Woman, and all four judges chose to save them, leaving Chris and Amy going home.
Emotional weekend and silver linings
Jaime has now addressed the devastating blow, appearing on Tuesday’s BBC Morning Live with Helen Skelton and OJ Borg. Helen began: “You’re both so wonderful but there’s no taking away from the fact, we’re going to mention the dance-off and then we’re going to move on, Jaime. It’s a bit of a blow when you’ve worked so hard, how are you feeling?”
Jaime replied: “It is, it’s been an emotional weekend and a hard couple of days. I’m still here, fighting fit and rearing to go. It is challenging and I am really glad we got to a dance-off because I got to do it again and I got to do it right and correctly, that’s the silver-lining here.”
She went on: “It’s been both ends of the spectrum, there’s been quite a lot of tears, it’s been very emotional, you’re just working so hard. Doing a lot of things out of my comfort zone. We were in the first-dance off, there’s a lot of firsts.”
Carlos on keeping spirits high
Carlos added: “But we always keep spirits high, at the end of the day, it’s a dance that really inspires people. I wanted Jaime to have the best time and enjoy every dance, hopefully we can stay in the competition as long as possible because so many styles of dance really suit her, so I’m just really excited.”
After lifting the glitterball trophy with Karen Carney last year, Carlos went on: “Every year’s experience is different with every partner. Every year you want your partner to have the best time they can, and really get to know them through the ups and downs and build a friendship and relationship that can hopefully transcend through the screen.
“Also, on top of that, make them dance as fabulous as they can, that’s my job. So not really thinking about results but more about the journey that we have had and how much fun we’re going to have.”
Dream come true and looking ahead
However, Jaime quipped that she was “feeling the pressure,” before adding: “I love dancing, this is a dream of mine. I’ve always wanted to dance on a professional level, I never have done, I’ve never had a dance lesson, so this is a real dream come true.
“I love it, I enjoy it, however, it is super challenging, and allowing yourself to be vulnerable. I really want to remember this experience, and stay in the competition as long as possible, however, it has to be joyous and it has to be fun and it has to be entertaining. There’s a lot of elements to it and I’m loving every minute of it.”
Looking ahead to their next dance, she teased: “It’s challenging, I’m enjoying the challenge, I’m just kind of shaking last week off… it’s in the past.” Strictly Come Dancing continues Saturday, October 10 at 6.15pm on BBC One and iPlayer.
