Strictly icon James Jordan says ‘I thought I was going to die on stage every night' as he reveals fight to beat injuries
STRICTLY Come Dancing's James Jordan admitted he thought he was going to die on stage each night of last year's sold-out
Legends of the Dance Floor
tour.
Former
BBC
pros James, Ian Waite, Pasha Kovalev, Brendan Cole and Vincent Simone turned back time and wowed fans around the country with fast footwork and hilarious tales.
6
James Jordan felt the physical strain on the Legends dance tour last year
Credit: The TCB Group
6
James, Ian Waite, Brandan Cole, Pasha Kovalev and Vincent Simone are returning to the stage
Credit: The TCB Group
But having been away from the live circuit for so long, James found the gruelling nature of life on stage particularly tough and, when it came to a fast-paced jive, was worried he might kick the bucket in front of thousands of fans.
In an exclusive interview with The Sun, he said: "Every night I did that jive I thought 'is tonight the night that I'm going to die?'"
Laughing, he continued: "Pasha, you're the one every night that used to say 'if he dies he dies'."
Fortunately, James, 46, is still with us and is raring to go for another
theatre
run this September for The Return of the Legends.
READ MORE ON STRICTLY
And the lads are definitely giving it their all in the build up.
Ian and James just returned from an elite fitness week abroad with other ex-athletes like Olympic swimmer
Despite being the elder statesman of the group, Ian gleefully showcased his ripped eight pack, which is no mean feat for anyone - especially at 54 years of age.
He might not be as shredded as his close pal, but
health
setbacks, including surgery on his shoulder and hernias, which needed his inguinal canal reconstructed.
Most read in News TV
Being back on the road has given him renewed purpose and he has vowed to be 100 per cent, and then some, for the upcoming run.
James said: "Ian is just an anomaly, he's a freak of nature. I've just been for a week with him on holiday actually a fitness week; he's 54 years old and he's as fit as anyone 20 years younger than him.
Lose six pounds in six weeks with The Sun's exclusive Strictly Six diet plan
"I'm trying to keep up but unfortunately, genetically, don't have the same joints and bones that Ian does. I've had shoulder surgery, I need shoulder surgery on this one, I've just had a hernia operation where they had to totally reconstruct my inguinal canal.
"I've got bad knees, I suffer with my back, I've got
tennis
elbow, however, I'm one of these people, as Ian knows, I've got to get over myself and try and get through it and this year will be no different.
"I feel like I'm in a slightly better place than I was last year when I started the tour; these boys are ridiculous. Their fitness levels are still insane and I'm going to be up with them this year 100 per cent every night."
The five dancers got a glowing endorsement from Strictly's head judge, Shirley Ballas, when they embarked on last year's tour.
They had been hesitant to send out invites to other famous names from their past for one reason: what if it was just a bit s**t?
That proved not to be the case with Shirley calling it "one of the funniest shows that I've ever seen in my life", while fans around the country were left applauding on their feet.
Following favourable reviews, expect to see the likes of Arlene Phillips and Craig Revel Horwood watching on at some point.
James said: "I will actually reach out to Arlene because I'm quite close to her. I'm sure she would love to see the show.
6
Shirley Ballas called the show one of the funniest she's ever seen
Credit: PA
6
Craig Revel Horwood could be on the guestlist this time around
Credit: BBC
"Ian is very close to Craig and I'm sure this year because we didn't know what the reaction was going to be, we felt like we had a great show, but you don't want to invite everyone just in case it's a bit s**t, right? So you don't reach out to everyone.
"But I think now we know that the reaction was so good I think we're going to reach out to more people like that.
"Please come and watch us and see what we're still able to do so many years after we left the show."
FAN FAVOURITES
Strictly's current crop of professional dancers have been making the most of their popularity in recent years, with more and more of the cast embarking on lucrative solo jaunts in between series'.
What separates the legends' show from the pack is that fans are effectively getting five for the price of one. The shackles that bound those under the employment of the BBC are also off, and they can tell stories and jokes that current pros simply couldn't get away with.
Explaining the popularity of the first tour, James said: "I think it's part of the nostalgia of the original pros. We're all big personalities in our own right.
"Vincent, really known for the Argentine tango; Brendan, the original that's been on there for so many years; Pasha, the sexy Russian; Ian, the flamboyant, beautiful, elegant dancer; and me, the gobby one. So I think there's something for everyone in the show.
"We didn't know how successful it would be. We kind of thought we were onto something. Great idea, great concept.
"Every night I did that jive I thought 'is tonight the night that I'm going to die?'"
James Jordan
"But, I mean, Bromley sold out in two days. And we never really expected that ourselves. So, there was a lot of hype around it.
"And I feel that all of us backed it up with an amazing show. I mean, the feedback that we got from it was amazing. I mean, even Shirley Butler said it's one of the funniest shows she's ever seen, which is a massive compliment to all of us.
"I think that's testament to the fact that we all get on genuinely so well. And we're quite happy ripping the p*ss out of each other on stage every night and telling our stories and things that happened to us in the past on Strictly."
There were close to the wire jokes about chaperones last time out after Strictly famously introduced them to training rooms following the
Both dancers departed the show amid claims of inappropriate behaviour from their respective celeb partners.
"They enjoy the fact that we're so open and honest," said James. "Because we don't work for the BBC anymore. We're not part of Strictly. We love the show, respect the show. But we're very honest and brutal.
"Shirley doesn't have to say great things about our show. She just doesn't. And I think when she came to the show, she said to me afterwards, 'it was such a surprise. I couldn't believe how much fun it was and how engaged I was in the whole thing'.
"We have so much variety in our show, the
comedy
, the amazing solo dances."
LAST HURRAH?
What better way would there be to show off their choreography than with a return to Strictly this
autumn
. After all, the tour coincides with the
next
series and guest performances on the Sunday night show are part and parcel of the programme.
Ian said: "It would go down so well, so if the producers listen to the audience you never know, we might be on there."
Revealing what they would perform, James said: "We have one number in particular that I know with the production value that Strictly has now... there's a number that opens the second act and it's like a cowboy number, and if we went and did that show on Strictly it would go down a storm.
"We're not trying to get back on the show, we've been there, had our time, but it would be
nice
to go back and have a little nod to say these old boys that were kind of the originals on the show are still doing their thing and this is what they can do."
Tickets are
available from all venues and via
.
6
James and wife Ola pictured in 2011
Credit: Getty
6
The new tour kicks off in Cambridge on September 5
Credit: Terry Blackburn
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Examiner
6 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Book review: Light touch always present in a story that is about love, pure and simple
Seán Hewitt's debut novel Open, Heaven is a queer coming-of-age novel set in a northern English village in 2002. Hewitt conveys the emotional intensity of late childhood and adolescence so well. The teeming excitement at your sexuality ascertaining itself, the uncertainty of launching yourself forward as an individual, of wondering what the shape of you might be. We first encounter James returning to the village where he grew up, considering buying an old farmhouse. As he looks around, he is brought back to a formative summer. Surely, we all have one. 'Time runs faster backwards. The years-long, arduous, and uncertain when taken by one, unspool quickly, turning liquid, so one summer becomes a shimmering light that, almost as soon as it appears in the mind is subsumed into a dark winter, a relapse of blackness that flashes to reveal a face, a fireside, a snow-encrusted garden.' This novel reminds me of Edmund White's iconic A Boy's Own Story in that both protagonists look back and explore the loneliness of queer adolescence, the feeling of being outside the swim. Yet, most of us can identify with that early grappling for identity. The wanting to be wanted. 'I could smell the heat off him, could almost taste him in my mouth. I was trapped there, part resentment, part pure pleasure, so close to him, so close to his power, that for a split second I thought perhaps he wanted me to kiss him.' Open, Heaven is a more innocent book than White's A Boy's Own Story. Sixteen-year-old James is a gentle, shy boy who loves his family, yet he often feels smothered by them. Hewitt draws the son's attempt to break away from the mother figure particularly well, his stiffening in public when she embraces him. In White's novel he viscerally charts the self-loathing of the queer boy who in the 1950s wanted to be loved by men and to love them back but not to be 'homosexual'. James in Open, Heaven does not share that fear, and there is a limited measure of societal progress. James comes out to a family who are gently supportive, although the attitude of his schoolmates remains challenging. While the self-loathing is happily absent, there is still that sense of being cut loose and alone. He is effectively ostracised because of the outside world's persistent homophobia. James must navigate his queerness in a predominantly straight world. Into his life comes gorgeous Luke, who becomes the lightning rod for his desires. Luke's sexuality remains ambiguous. James brings him a page from a porn magazine hoping that Luke might think of him as a girl. Luke is a troubled magnetic boy with an absent mother and a father in prison. Adults perceive him as a troublemaker. And so, we see two outsiders draw close. The backdrop to the book is, if not economic deprivation, quiet rural poverty and the struggle to make a living. It occurs to James that his family may not be able to afford to turn on the heating, and he faces a two-hour walk to school. The novel is not laden down by plot. I personally enjoyed the focus on the interiority of the protagonist's life. A profoundly moving bond forms between the boys. The ending had me almost reaching for a tissue because it is about love, plain and simple. This is never a dark book because the light touch is always there, and it is the better for it. How exhausting it must be for queer adolescents to so often see themselves depicted on the page as only tortured and struggling. Hewitt's debut poetry collection, Tongues of Fire, was published in 2020 to much fanfare. Since then, he has produced a book a year. He is also an assistant professor in literary practice at Trinity College Dublin and a darling of the critics. Born in England to an Irish mother and an English father, his sensibility feels midway between both cultures. Open, Heaven is written with lyrical delicacy, featuring beautiful Hardyesque descriptions of nature with an intimate tone. Hewitt is a poet at heart, and it leaps from the page. 'And then across the village, there came the high metallic notes of the church bells pealing, as if the sound, as if time itself, were being pulled upwards, brightly, into the sky.' I couldn't recommend it more.
The Irish Sun
8 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Lousie Redknapp, 50, wows fans as she shows off her toned body in a bikini on girls' holiday
LOUISE Redknapp wowed fans as she posed in a bikini top on her girls' holiday to New York. The 50-year-old star shared a snap of herself enjoying the sunny weather in the Big Apple. Advertisement 5 Louise Redknapp looked stunning in holiday snaps from New York Credit: Instagram 5 Her and a pal stripped off in the Big Apple Credit: Instagram 5 Louise posted photos from her rooftop pool Credit: Instagram Throwing her hands in the air, Louise flaunted her toned figure in the top and low cut shorts. She captioned her shots: "A little girls trip with Sue." Fans were quick to comment on her holiday snaps, with one saying: "Wow u look incredible". Another said: "Still stunning after all these years!" Advertisement READ MORE ON LOUISE Louise found love again almost two years ago with boyfriend Since then, they've appeared inseparable, often enjoying music events and spending their summers attending festivals, including Glastonbury and Boardmasters. If Louise hasn't been going to festivals, she's been performing at them, with the singer launching a comeback with her Greatest Hits celebrating her career to date. She's also just released her Advertisement Most read in Celebrity Breaking The Strictly winner was with ex Jamie Redknapp for 20 years and they share two sons. 'What's great is (Drew) is brilliant on a friendship level with the boys,' she told The Sun last month. Louise Redknapp says she felt 'the lowest a human could get' when she split from husband Jamie and 'almost gave up' 'They get on great with him. And that, for me, is super-important. There's just a real mutual respect there. Obviously Beau is still at school, but we spend a lot of time together.' The nine-year age gap inevitably led to Drew being described as her 'toyboy' and Louise being referred to as a 'cougar'. Advertisement But it's 'water off a duck's back,' she added. 'For me, age is irrelevant – within reason – but he's not 22. I think it's more about the person and the life experiences and the connection that's important.' However, Louise isn't thinking about walking down the aisle a second time. 'Oh, I'm not even thinking that far ahead. I'm not even going there. Manifesting is a real hint to Drew. Advertisement 'I'm not going to lie and say it isn't. But it's also a life lesson to be present in the here and now, so I'm not thinking down the line. I'm enjoying my relationship, my kids, my album and my life." After their split her ex Jamie went on to marry model 5 Louise with boyfriend Drew Credit: Instagram 5 Louise with sons Charley, 20, and Beau, 16 Credit: Instagram Advertisement
The Irish Sun
9 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
‘Crass' cops slammed for playing ‘snog, marry, kill' with mugshots of local call girls and felons
LAYING 'snog, marry, avoid' with colleagues at work could be sexual harassment, a tribunal has ruled. The 'crass' and 'inappropriate' game may breach the Equality Act, an Employment judge said. The risqué quiz involves naming three people and then asking a person to pick which one you would like to kiss, which one you would get married to and which one you would steer clear of altogether. In the BBC hit comedy Gavin and Stacey, Pam, Mick, Gavin and Smithy played a version of it featuring celebrities during a car ride from Essex to Wales. However, the tribunal found it may break workplace laws. The ruling came in the case of a police officer who sued Derbyshire Police after a female colleague involved him in the game — using mugshots of sex workers. READ MORE UK NEWS The officer candidly admitted to the tribunal that she had 'jokingly' played the game with co-workers and included PC Shafarat Mohammed in their discussion. PC Mohammed claimed that during the discussion in May or June 2022 he was only shown images of black women and was asked what he liked about one of them. He said he was 'embarrassed' and 'offended' by the questioning and felt it was inappropriate. The tribunal judge said: 'We agree that the questions were inappropriate.' Most read in The Sun However, the tribunal found there was no racial or religious element to it as the sex workers were of varying ethnicities. PC Mohammed lost his case for racial and religious discrimination and harassment. Two top cops accused of mocking a colleague's Irish accent in 'grossly offensive' leaving video 1 A cop sued Derbyshire Police after a female colleague dragged him into a game of 'snog, marry, avoid' using sex worker mugshots (stock picture) Credit: Getty
