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Daily Mail
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Paddy McGuinness reveals his secret celebrity crush amid claims his ex Christine 'exchanged flirty texts' with Dan Osborne
Paddy McGuinness has confessed who his very unexpected celebrity crush is during an episode of Celebrity Gogglebox on Friday. The former Top Gear host, 51, was watching Celebrity Bridge on the Channel 4 show alongside Vernon Kay, when Countdown star Rachel Riley appeared on screen. But Paddy, who split from his wife and mother of his three children Christine in 2022 after 11 years of marriage, didn't appear dissuaded as he confessed the mathematics expert was his crush 'he wasn't supposed to have'. He admitted: 'There's something about Rachel Riley. I don't know what it is. You know when you have like a celebrity crush that you're not supposed to have.' Vernon replied: 'She's a United fan,' which prompted Paddy to recoil. 'Oh I've gone right off her!' he declared as he looked visibly horrified. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. Paddy's secret crush Rachel is currently single, after she and her husband, former Strictly Come Dancing pro Pasha Kovalev, split in 2023 after nearly a decade together. Their relationship famously began after Rachel appeared on Strictly in 2013, shortly after it was announced she was separating from her then-husband. Paddy's cheeky confession about his celebrity crush wasn't the only thing that got viewers talking — tonight's episode of Celebrity Gogglebox also marked his return to the sofa alongside Vernon Kay The Radio 2 stars, both 51, were back on screens as part of the latest celebrity line-up, and fans were thrilled to see the Bolton pals reunited Paddy's divorce from former model Christine, 37, was finalised last summer, following their split in 2022. The couple share three kids - ten-year-old twins, Penelope and Leo, and seven-year-old daughter Felicity - who are all autistic. Despite their split, they remain living under the same roof at their £2.5million family home in Cheshire for the sake of their young family. But earlier this year, MailOnline revealed Paddy had put their £6.5million Cheshire house up for sale. Christine had reportedly grown increasingly tired of cohabiting with Paddy, who was happy for the arrangement to continue. Speaking about their split, Christine said: 'I've never spoken about the reasons for our divorce, and I don't know if I ever will. 'It was a difficult time. It wasn't something that, you know, I just decided to do overnight, or that we chose to do. 'We tried, and, yeah, there just, unfortunately, there was no repairing it, you know?' Christine also pulled out of her scheduled appearance on Celebs Go Dating earlier this month, revealing she felt it was 'too soon' for her to date so publicly following her divorce. Christine had already flown to Ibiza to begin filming the series with the rest of the cast but told fans she was 'returning home to her family' after having a change of heart. Revealing the news on Instagram at the start of this month, she said: 'I joined Celebs Go Dating with great intentions but have realised that dating on a public platform and the attention is brings is just too soon for me.' She added she may appear in the future though: 'They've said the door is always open for me which I'm so grateful but for now I'm returning home to my family.' But more recently 'flirty' texts between Christine and TOWIE's Dan Osborne have been unearthed. The former TV star, 33, and Paddy 's ex failed in their attempts to hide their growing bond for one another as far back as 2019, after it was reported the pair have leant on one another during their respective marriage woes. It's claimed that the pair exchanged 'flirty texts' while acting as a source of comfort during their personal struggles and they were previously pictured together in March 2023. Sources had claimed that Christine and Dan comforted each other through their marital woes, and exchanged a string of flirty texts (Christine pictured with ex-husband Paddy in 2019) Sources had claimed that Christine and Dan comforted each other through their marital woes, and exchanged a string of flirty texts. The model reportedly called Dan 'D' in their 'flirty texts' and they were also pictured together at London's The Hoxton hotel in March 2023. After news of their close friendship come to light, Christine reportedly said she is 'absolutely adamant nothing sexual happened between them both', with Dan suggesting the messages are 'deep fakes or AI'. A source close to Christine told The Sun that Dan 'mainly led the way with texts', which often involved 'platonic stuff about their kids'.
The Sun
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
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 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. 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 Rebecca Adlington. 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 James has shown his grit and determination by losing weight and overcoming numerous health setbacks, including surgery on his shoulder and hernias, which needed his inguinal canal reconstructed. 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. "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 "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. "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 Giovanni Pernice and Graziano Di Prima scandals. 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." 6
