'We will beat the Strictly curse': Aljaz Skorjanec and Janette Manrara insist there is no rivalry between them as they prepare to tie the knot

They are two of Strictly Come Dancing’s hottest stars, and are set to marry next year, but ALJAZ SKORJANEC and JANETTE MANRARA insist there is not a jot of jealousy between them – despite the intense bond they form with their celebrity partners. Louise Gannon catches up with the sexy duo at a meet-the-fans weekend

Aljaz and Janette perform at a Dancing With the Stars weekend

Have you ever wondered what happens to the Strictly Come Dancing pros when they disappear from our televisions after dazzling us with their sequins, smiles and sambas from September to Christmas? It is hard to imagine them in anything but tight satin and Lycra and Tango-orange fake tan (and that’s just the men). But here we are on a packed train from London to Warwickshire with Aljaz Skorjanec, 26, and Janette Manrara, 32, dressed down in jeans, T-shirts and Converse trainers, and not a hint of glitter in sight.

We’re heading north to a dance weekend in Leamington Spa. While Aljaz sleeps (it’s been a heavy week: his sister’s wedding followed by a Coldplay concert), Janette spills the secrets of one of Britain’s biggest Saturday-night entertainment shows. During a weekend of access to the private lives of the Strictly stars, the two talk about the blood, sweat and tears on – and off – the top-rated show, and their five-year romance, which they believe will beat the so-called Strictly curse.

‘I think a lot of people assume we get packed away with the costumes and pulled out for the next season of Strictly,’ says Janette, ‘but we are dancers 52 weeks of the year. We do dance weekends, cruises and shows. We tour up and down the country. Strictly has opened so many doors. People love it and they embrace us – this little Miami girl [Janette is just 5ft 1in to Aljaz’s 6ft] and this Slovenian boy. Dancing is a tough career, but Strictly has changed our lives. We are making the most of it.’

Aljaz and Janette lead Strictly fans in a weekend of showcases, Q&A sessions, ballroom and Latin classes with the pros followed by evenings putting it into practice on the dancefloor

She is right. Later, in the Kenilworth Ballroom of Chesford Grange Hotel, a newly hung glitterball is sparkling over the lissom forms of Strictly’s lovebirds as they cheer and chivvy a room full of dance fans through the steps of the cha-cha. Handbags, cardies, water bottles and sports jackets adorn the tables and chairs. Outside the doors, the next group of dancers (the intermediates) wait impatiently for their lesson with the BBC stars.

Aljaz and Janette put their skills into practice on the dancefloor

The excitement is palpable. The couple boast stellar CVs – Aljaz has won 19 Slovenian championships in ballroom and Latin, while Janette has toured with Glee and Jennifer Lopez – so it is perhaps no surprise that, in the past three years, they have become two of Strictly’s most popular stars. Yet it’s not just because they look superb in sequins.

Janette and Aljaz have melted the hearts of viewers by defying the curse of Strictly, which has left at least ten celebrity romances (including the long-term relationships of newsreader Natasha Kaplinsky and rugby star Ben Cohen) in tatters since the show began 12 years ago. Instead, their relationship has strengthened (‘Doing Strictly has actually brought us closer together,’ says Janette, ‘because we understand the pressure each other is under’) and last year they got engaged. They plan to marry next year.

Between series, the couple spend almost every hour together, working on their dances in the gym, performing on cruises, appearing at celebrity showcases and, today, teaching on a dance weekend. Other Strictly stars – from Ian Waite and Natalie Lowe to Trent Whiddon – are here, but Janette and Aljaz are the hot ticket.

While a hotel in Warwickshire might not be quite as glamorous as Strictly, it’s a lot more intimate. ‘I’ve seen Aljaz dance on the Strictly tours,’ says 27-year-old Sarah Brookes from Bewdley. ‘But here you get to talk to him. He looks gorgeous on TV, but he’s much more so in the flesh because he’s so friendly. They are such a cute couple.’

With an average of 11 million viewers tuning into last year’s final, Strictly is showing no sign of slowing down. Donahey’s dance company, which has organised the Dancing With the Stars Weekend (at £400-plus a pop), is enjoying the Strictly gold rush, and the show’s professionals are in demand.

For the fans, it is the full Strictly experience. One minute you are watching the pros ricochet across the floor in a speedy Argentine tango or learning how to wiggle like Janette, the next you are queuing up beside them for sausages at the breakfast bar, sharing a ballroom secret – for men – to stop sweat dripping in your eyes. ‘Rub Vaseline across your brow,’ confides Aljaz. ‘It’s a tip Craig [Revel Horwood] gave me.’ (The Vaseline creates a barrier to deflect the sweat.)

‘J and A’, as they are known to their friends, don’t demand chia-seed risottos and organic juices in their room. As dancers who have spent years (pre-Strictly) on stage shows, they lug their gear around and iron their own outfits. ‘What is a rider?’ asks Aljaz as he is glad-handed by a group of 50-something fans over his chicken caesar salad. I explain it’s a set of demands – from specialist vodka to blue Smarties – that celebrities make as a precondition for a performance. ‘But I have everything I need,’ he says, looking puzzled.

Judges Len Goodman, Darcey Bussell, Craig Revel Horwood and Bruno Tonioli make an ‘appearance’

Post-dancing there is no heavy drinking at the bar: the pair are clear they are ambassadors for the family entertainment show. They sign autographs, pose for photographs and Janette chuckles politely as she’s told by a group of female admirers, ‘We were determined not to like you, but now we’ve met you, we think you’re lovely.’ ‘You sign up for a show like Strictly and you accept you are a role model,’ says Janette. ‘I get lots of young girls writing to me. If you are nice, people are nice back. It’s that simple. Strictly runs contracts year on year. You would be very foolish to behave badly.’

While some dancers have attracted gossip (such as Kristina Rihanoff, whose relationship with her series 11 partner, rugby player Ben Cohen, culminated in her announcing on Celebrity Big Brother that they were having a baby), Janette and Aljaz have largely kept their relationship private.

Clean-living, polite and hardworking, they believe it is their shared focus and outlook that will ensure the longevity of their relationship. As companions, they are easygoing, open and highly entertaining. There will be, Aljaz confides, not one wedding day but two. ‘We want both our grandparents to be there and that means we will probably have two ceremonies – one in Slovenia and one in Miami.’ They are worried less about a curse and more about how to fit two weddings into one busy schedule (as professional dance partners, they always appear together).

‘For us, there is no curse,’ says Aljaz. ‘We were together when we joined the show. We don’t get jealous of each other’s bond with celebrity partners because we understand that dancing can be emotional, but we also know how well suited and in love we are. The only great sadness for me is that we will never be able to do a perfect romantic ballroom waltz. Janette is too little to partner me. In ballroom, you need to hold each other in a clasp and the height difference should be around six inches. Anything else we can do.’ A few hours later, they show just how steamy a tango can be instead.

The pair joined Strictly in 2013 (Aljaz went on to win with Abbey Clancy that same year). His worst Strictly moment was in the quarter finals of that series. ‘I was standing in position with Abbey just seconds before the dance. Her back was to the audience and the cameras were right in my face. She mouthed at me: “I can’t remember any of the steps.” I nearly burst into tears. Then the music started. It was like the spell had been broken and her feet just moved to the music.’

Janette, whose partners have included designer Julien Macdonald and EastEnders actor Jake Wood, laughs and shakes her head. ‘That was nothing.’ Last year she partnered the singer Peter Andre, who began as favourite to win. ‘Peter was unbelievably nervous,’ she says.

Aljaz and Janette perform for an audience of Strictly fans

‘I would walk into his dressing room on the day of the show and he was so terrified he wouldn’t be able to move. I’d hold his arms out and say: “Peter, breathe.” I’ve never met anyone more terrified of dancing. With Jake, it was the opposite. I’d go to see him an hour before we went on and I’d be, like: “Jake, wake up!” He was so relaxed he’d be sleeping. He has the most phenomenal memory – so many actors can learn steps in minutes. And actors love to do homework, they’ll do research on a dance. Jake would ask for names of male dancers he could watch on YouTube. Helen George [the Call the Midwife actress with whom Aljaz was partnered last year] was the same. She would always ask for homework.’

Aljaz and Janette met seven years ago when they starred in the dance act Burn the Floor, which toured worldwide. It was several years before Aljaz asked Janette out. ‘I thought he was amazing from the moment I saw him because I fell in love with the way he danced,’ says Janette. ‘Our first date was in a Mexican restaurant in Malibu. We have lived together since. We have never had a single row.’

Their backgrounds could not be more different. Aljaz comes from a tight-knit family in rural Slovenia. His father Srecko built their house himself. Aljaz grew up with his younger sister Lara (now a dance teacher), eating food that his mother Natasa grew on their small allotment. Aljaz talks about home a lot and on his phone has photos of his mother’s garden and of him and Janette with his family. ‘If I have a few days off, I’ll often fly home to see them, to sleep in my bedroom, eat tomatoes,’ he says.

 

Aged five, he enrolled in dance class. ‘The boys went to play football, the girls went to dance – I followed the girls,’ he says. By the age of six, he was competing and joined the best dance school in the country – the dance studio Fredidance – which was two hours away by train. ‘Three times a week I would leave school at 2pm and practise from 4pm to 9.30pm. Then we would do a public performance and I’d get home at 1am. For the first four years, my mum and dad came with me; by the age of ten I was doing this on my own.’

At school, he was bullied for being ‘gay’ because he danced. ‘I didn’t really make friends,’ he says. ‘Kids just say what they think to your face. I don’t blame them for it. What I was doing wasn’t exactly normal.’

But however tough school was, the competitive dance world was riven by petty jealousies and in-fighting. Aljaz won the Slovenian championship 19 times, but hated the bitchy atmosphere. ‘The good thing was I got to travel to so many countries. I always loved England. I decided to leave the competition world and try dancing for a living.’ At 19, he joined Burn the Floor. ‘I loved it, but I missed my home so much,’ he says. ‘I used to cry because I missed my sister and my parents. But I loved to dance and everything changed for me.’

Janette started dancing professionally when she was 24. Her parents Luis and Maritza are Cuban and fled to the US when Fidel Castro came to power. Janette is the eldest of three and focused on doing well for her family. She studied finance and, by the time she was 24, was the assistant manager of the Northern Trust’s national loan division.

Janette and Aljaz at the launch of Strictly series 11

‘I had a great job and a nice boyfriend, but I wasn’t happy,’ she says. ‘I’d danced as a kid and I took lessons in the evenings and on my days off. Dancing was my outlet. I told a friend I wanted to meet a tall, dark, handsome man from Europe who could dance.

‘I’d learn the competition dances but I was too old to compete. My teacher told me to follow my heart and dance. I had never taken a risk in my life, but my parents fully supported me and my boss told me they would hold my job open if I changed my mind. I flew to Los Angeles and auditioned for TV dance shows and pop tours. It was really scary. My savings ran out pretty quickly. I got a lot of rejections and I knew no one there. Then I was given a chance on So You Think You Can Dance [in 2008] and my life changed.’

Janette and Aljaz are aware of the precarious nature of their profession and are thinking about the future. They would love to present a children’s dance show. Do they want children of their own? Janette nods. ‘I used to be the woman who said she would never have kids. Then I met Aljaz. It’s what we both really want. First we think about the wedding, then about babies.’ In between, of course, there’s Strictly.

When the show starts, the pair rehearse seven days a week for five months, often working past midnight on techniques and routines. During the day, they rarely see each other. ‘The show is so full on. We will be in the same building but have to text each other to keep in touch.’

Their two families met for the first time when they came to see them in the show. Aljaz laughs: ‘We weren’t even there to introduce them! They made their way to the show together, but it was a great atmosphere and they just made friends.’

Janette describes her 19-year-old sister Lesly’s trip to see the show in Blackpool. ‘She came straight from Miami beach. All she knew about Blackpool was the seaside. She walked from her hotel to the ballroom and afterwards she said to me: “It was like Armageddon. The wind was blowing so hard and it was pitch black.” I laughed and told her I’d grown to love it.’

The couple both see the UK as their adoptive country. Home is a two-bedroom flat in North London, bursting at the seams with costumes. I imagine lots of dancing in the kitchen and a constant parade of sequined frocks. Janette shakes her head: ‘There’s no dancing at home. If we’re in the kitchen, it’s often at about 2am because that’s when we tend to eat after a show. And there are definitely no sequins! We live in sweatpants. I can walk around unrecognised because I don’t do my shopping in false eyelashes, but Aljaz is recognised everywhere.’ (This is true. Our trip from the station to the hotel was delayed after fans spotted Aljaz across the concourse and queued for photographs.)

When they marry next year, everyone – from the stars of the show to their celebrity partners – will be invited. But there will be one surprise. ‘There will be no wedding dance, no big first dance number,’ says Aljaz. ‘We will eat, we will laugh, we will be with our friends and our family – but no dancing. That is what we do for a living.’

Janette and Aljaz will star in series 14 of Strictly Come Dancing, which starts on BBC One next month

Images: David Fisher/Rex/Shutterstock, xposurephoto.com, BBC/Guy Levy, Mike Marsland/Wireimage, James Shaw/Rex/Shutterstock, Dave J Hogan/Getty Images, Dave M Benett/Getty Images, Getty Images/Anthony Harvey, David Fisher/Rex/Shutterstock