Strictly Come Dancing star John Nellis announced he and his wife Shannon are expecting another child during Saturday night's live programme (October 3). The 33-year-old digital content creator made the disclosure before performing his Movie Week routine with partner Katya Jones.
In a pre-filmed clip, John spoke about time 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."
Growing family revealed
John, who is already stepfather to a son named Eli, added: "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."
He continued: "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."
Fans react and judges split
Supporters responded quickly to the news on X. One user posted: "Why am I crying about John and his wife having another baby?" Another commented: "Awh John [tearful emoji]."
John and Katya then performed their Couple's Choice routine to An Irish Party in Third Class from the film Titanic. Judges offered contrasting scores: Craig Revel Horwood and Motsi Mabuse awarded 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 his assessment: "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."
Viewers praise performance
Viewers were quick to express enthusiasm after the routine. One remarked: "I just love John! A really fun dance and he has so much potential truly!!" Another commented: "John surely has to be a contender for the final." A third stated: "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.
