JB Gill says he's the 'luckiest' man as he makes Strictly Come Dancing history

The singer teams up with both Amy Dowden and Lauren Oakley for the show tour

JLS star JB Gill says he’s the luckiest man alive as he gets ready to make Strictly history by dancing with two partners on tour.

He will join forces with both Amy Dowden and Lauren Oakley as the live shows kick off tonight in Birmingham. Amy was forced to leave the BBC show half way the most recent series after suffering a stress fracture. The injury blow came just nine months after she had a mastectomy for breast cancer. Lauren stepped in and got to the final with singer JB. United as a trio, Amy, 34, said she “cried for days” after stepping away from the show.

Opening up about her heartbreak, she said: “I’m not gonna lie, I struggled. I cried for days on end. I know my family was really worried about me. But ultimately, the year before, my husband kept saying to me, I was fighting for my life. The fact that I got back on that dance floor nine months later after gruelling chemotherapy, a new upper body, I had a mastectomy. Everything I’d been through from sepsis to blood clots to a broken leg. I had to remember what I did to get back. I was still in a far better position than I was the year before.”

Amy was diagnosed with breast cancer and didn’t take part in the 2023 series. Returning last year, she was forced out in week six after injuring her foot. “It was obviously such a high coming back,” she recalled. “My parents were there, they were crying. And then obviously that first live show with JB and topping the leaderboard, it was surreal, it was magical. And then to have it cut short the way it did halfway through the series was devastating because since those words of ‘Amy, you’ve got cancer’. My goal was to get back on the Strictly dance floor and then having it taken away from me like that was just heartbreaking. But I was so glad JB was able to continue and to dance with her lovely Lauren. And he went all the way to the final, which I knew he would. I was super proud of them.”

Fully recovered from her fracture now, she says excited to get back on the dance floor. “It’s magical because I get to dance with JB one more time,” smiles Amy. “We didn’t realise our journey was gonna be cut so short when it was. So the fact we get to dance together again is so lovely. I can’t wait.”

And JB can’t believe his luck at having not one but two beautiful women to dance with. “I feel like I am one very lucky man to get to dance with two gorgeous professional dancers,” he beams. “I think both of them are incredibly talented and I don’t think it’s ever happened on the tour, that it’s one celebrity with two professionals. We’re unique in that sense.”

So what does JB’s wife Chloe think about him waltzing off with two women? “She knows both Amy and Lauren,” tells JB, 38. “She gets on well with both of them and they’re very much an extension of our family, we’ve had a great relationship. Chloe comes from that world because she knows what it’s like and we’ve been together a long enough time to know firstly how it works, but then also to have experience touring and me being away and so on. We obviously have had dancers with JLS as well, many of them have been friends and we’ve had to do partner work slightly differently, but you know, she’s understanding.”

Thrilled for her first Strictly tour, Lauren, 33, says the trio are tight knit. “It was a nice little team actually," she smiles. "It was really enjoyable to have that sisterhood with Amy.”

And Amy agrees, saying Lauren was the “perfect” person to take her place. “My priority was getting JB to that final and for him having the most magical experience of Strictly,” said Amy. “I felt awful. I felt like I let him down and I would’ve done anything to ensure that he got to continue dancing and Lauren was the perfect partner for him. We’ve known each other since we were kids, so a long time. I just think she was the perfect replacement. It just worked really well.”

Explaining how it works between the three of them on tour, the pro dancers will share the performances - easing the load on Amy. She said: “We actually both had six weeks dancing with JB so we’ll be doing one dance from my time with him and then one from Lauren’s time. He’s a lucky man!”

JB explained: “We’re gonna be doing our waltz, which was our week one dance. So we’re going right back to the beginning, which is exciting. And then obviously being able to do my dance with Lauren as well soon, we got so far in competition and to get to the final was amazing as well.”

After her rollercoaster year, Amy says her cancer and injury woes have made her savour every moment and love Strictly even more. “It’s made me not take things for granted,” she said. “I had everything taken away from me with a click of a finger. I didn’t know if I was gonna dance again. I had Strictly taken away from me that year, the tour too, I didn’t dance for 18 months. Tomorrow’s not promised. We don’t know what’s around the corner. So be present, enjoy every opportunity, every moment, every second, every beat on that dance floor. And that’s what I want to do is just embrace it now because I know what it’s like to have it taken away from me.”

Looking ahead to his future post Strictly, JB says he can’t wait to get back with the JLS boys. “Once this tour has finished, we’ll catch up and we’ll work out the plan for this year," he tells." Whether it’s new music, a tour, I don’t know.”

Strictly Come Dancing The Live Tour runs until 9 February. For venues and tickets: StrictlyComeDancingLive.com

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