Strictly Come Dancing contestant Jaime Winstone has spoken about her emotional reaction to surviving the feared dance-off during this weekend's show.
The actress and her professional partner, defending champion Carlos Gu, received the fewest public votes alongside celebrity hairstylist Chris Appleton and his partner Amy Dowden. Both couples had to perform their routines again, with Jaime and Carlos dancing to Pretty Woman. All four judges opted to keep them in the competition, sending Chris and Amy home.
Emotional weekend and silver linings
Appearing on Tuesday's BBC Morning Live alongside Helen Skelton and OJ Borg, Jaime reflected on the experience. She said: "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 continued: "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 Gu 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."
Following his glitterball triumph with Karen Carney last year, Carlos continued: "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."
Support from fans and celebrities
Jaime joked 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."
Following the show on Saturday, Jaime was showered with support from her followers and shared a series of snaps from Movie Week. She added: "THANK YOU TO ALL THAT VOTED." Melanie Blatt replied: "You rock our world my talented friend !!!! I'd vote a million times for you everyday if I could." Lisa Snowdon also commented: "You were ICONIC! Loved it." "Such a joy to watch you babes," one follower also shared. Another added: "Love your energy on the show! Superstar!"
Why Jaime joined Strictly
When questioned about her decision to join the 2026 lineup, Jaime previously explained: "It just felt right! I have been asked before and I've always been working and busy or just being full-on mum, but I turned 40 last year and I've really got to just lean into this moment. A lot of people in my life know how much I love dancing – music and dance is such a big part of who I am."
She also said there were "clear signs" that led to her decision to go on Strictly this year, saying: "One of them being Madonna's new album and its track with the lyrics 'everybody get up and dance'. I took that as a personal sign as I'm such a huge Madonna fan – there's not a room in my house without a disco ball!"
She went on: "Another very clear sign came when I went to my friend Poppy Delevingne's birthday party a few months back, and Taylor Swift was there! I was just dancing as I do, and she came up to me out of nowhere and just said, 'Oh my lord, how do you dance so freely?'. When someone of her calibre and status says that, it's a very clear sign!"
She added: "I've done every sort of gritty drama you possibly could do, and I usually play people quite a lot older than me, and I just thought: this is the time to step into a realm that I don't know, which is the ballroom, and give it a real good go. If you're going to do one, this is the most joyous, sparkly, and challenging one to do."
Strictly Come Dancing continues Saturday, October 10 at 6.15pm on BBC One and iPlayer.
