Strictly Come Dancing contestant John Nellis announced during Saturday's live broadcast that he and his wife Shannon are expecting a baby. The 33-year-old content creator made the revelation before performing his Movie Week routine with professional partner Katya Jones.
Family announcement ahead of dance
In a pre-recorded clip, John spoke about the challenges of being away from his family, saying: "The hardest part of my job, and it genuinely breaks my heart, is the amount of time I spend away from family. I miss my wife more than you can imagine, and my son. And our family is growing. We're having another baby in February. I want a big family. I want big Christmases and big parties like I grew up. I just genuinely had the most blessed childhood ever."
John is already a stepfather to a son named Eli. He also shared fond memories of his own parents, adding: "My favourite memory of my dad is more of a feeling, and it's that we were best friends first and he's my dad second, and that's the truth. My mum and dad are the most supportive people. Their moral compass is, like, so well aligned that it realigns those around them. They're just good people."
Judges' mixed reactions
John and Katya then performed their Couple's Choice to An Irish Party in Third Class from the film Titanic. Craig Revel Horwood and Motsi Mabuse awarded the performance 4 and 5 points respectively, while Shirley Ballas and Anton Du Beke each gave 7 points.
Shirley commented: "You recreated that whole dance and I totally enjoyed it. What I like about you, except at the end, you are generally very solid on your feet because those highlights are world-class highlights, definitely not for beginners, and you executed them extremely well."
Craig offered a contrasting view, noting: "I thought it was very heavy footed for this type of dance. For me, it lacked a spring in your step. You should be flying through that and not taking up any space. Everything needs a bit more finesse, getting in and out of the lifts, like the Windmill lift, which I thought you did wonderfully."
Viewer response
Viewers reacted warmly to the announcement on X, with one user posting: "Why am I crying about John and his wife having another baby?" while another replied: "Awh John [tearful emoji]."
Following the performance, one fan commented: "I just love John! A really fun dance and he has so much potential truly!!" Another added: "John surely has to be a contender for the final." A third wrote: "I don't care if there was mistakes or if it was stompy, that was unlike anything I've seen on #Strictly. Felt so real, loved it, well done John and Katya."
Strictly Come Dancing is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
