Janette Manrara has shared an adorable conversation she had with her young daughter about Strictly Come Dancing after confirming her exit from the show.
Janette's Strictly journey
The 42-year-old, whose husband Aljaz Skorjanec has been confirmed to be returning to the pro line-up this year, joined the series in 2013 as a professional dancer before leaving in 2020. The following year she took over from Zoe Ball as the host of It Takes Two, alongside Rylan Clark and then Fleur East.
But there has been a massive shake-up to the hit BBC One dance show ahead of the 2026 series, due to kick off in September, which started with the exit of long-time hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman at the end of last year, who have since been confirmed to be replaced by Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe.
Exit confirmation
Janette was widely rumoured to be facing the axe, and confirmed she had left the series in a video posted on her YouTube account last month. In it, she said: “Strictly Come Dancing has changed hugely, and I am no longer a part of It Takes Two or the main show. I’ll still be involved in other ways. But that just means that I’m free to pursue and do many other projects that I’ve always wanted to do and never really thought about doing. Strictly is all I’ve known for the last 14 years so it is a bit like, ‘Oh, we’re going into a different world, a different space, how are we going to navigate that?'”
But Janette isn't far from Strictly just due to her husband's continued role in the programme, but also because it seems like her and Aljaz's daughter, Lyra Rose, is also a fan.
Adorable conversation
Taking to Instagram, she shared a video in which she could be seen chatting with the almost three-year-old, and she could be heard bringing up her dad's latest celebrity partner, Drag star La Voix, as well as naming her favourite judge as Anton Du Beke, and recalling her own visit to the famous Strictly ballroom.
Captioning the post on Instagram, Janette wrote: "#TalksWithLyra seems to be the theme this week! [crying laughing emoji]. And someone is reminiscing on the last series of @bbcstrictly! Also, I still cannot get rid of @lavoixtheshow ! Apparently she’s a better partner for @aljazskorjanec than I am!"
She added: "Watch this week’s TalksWithJanette as it’s a fun one with my girl @iamashleyroberts, @bbcpromstagram , and @brunomars all in one! Link in bio! @katyajones , @lewiscope , @lubamushtuk , @karenhauer , @mr_njonesofficial , @chymills_, @craigrevel, and @mrantondubeke all get special mentions."
Katya was among those responding to the post, writing: "Everyone’s fan but her daddy’s [crying laughing emoji]. We adore you Lyra [heart emoji]," as was her last celebrity partner, Lewis, who said: "She is the cutest ever [face and hearts emoji]." Anton, meanwhile, gushed: "Oh you’re my favourite too Lyra [face and hearts emoji]."
