Strictly Come Dancing welcomes back previous contestant Jamie Laing, after he was forced to pull out last year.
Joining 2020’s line-up of 12, the Made In Chelsea star even thinks he can win the Strictly glitterball trophy!
Read more: Strictly Come Dancing plans moving TV special tribute to Caroline Flack
Who is Jamie Laing?
Jamie is one of the longest running cast members on Made In Chelsea. He was due to appear on Strictly Come Dancing in 2019, but Jamie had to pull out due to injury. Luckily they’ve let him back for another go!
The 31-year-old joined reality show MIC in 2011, as a close friend of the show’s lothario Spencer Matthews.
In September 2020, Jamie revealed that Spencer and wife Vogue Williams asked him to be the godfather of their daughter Gigi, who came into the world in July.
What other TV shows have we seen him on?
A break out star on MIC, Jamie has appeared in a slew of other reality shows such as Celebrity Hunted, Celebrity Great British Bake Off, Famous and Fighting Crime, The Crystal Maze, Safeword, Celebrity Juice, Through The Keyhole, Would I Lie To You, Virtually Famous, First Dates and many more.
He also hosts a podcast, Private Parts, with his MIC pal Francis Boulle as well as a BBC podcast 6 Degrees from Jamie and Spencer.
Read more: Strictly Come Dancing: Steps star H on the show’s first same-sex pairing
Why did Jamie pull out of Strictly 2019?
In 2019, Jamie Laing was excited about joining the cast of Strictly and had been paired up with Oti Mabuse. He said at the time: “At school I was a bad student, but when it comes to being coached I’m very good.
“I’m competitive and want to do my best, so there’s no way I won’t be listening.”
But then he announced that he had been forced to quit due to injury. The reason? “I bought these little things called lifts that give you a little bit more height in the old shoes. Don’t buy those! Terrible things.”
I’m competitive and want to do my best, so there’s no way I won’t be listening.
He says he was gutted to pull out of the show, because he reckoned he stood a good chance of scooping the glitter ball.
He said: “I would have [bleeping] won that! One hundred percent, I had that! The very first show when I honestly thought I was Billy Elliot, I was like, ‘this is my dream to be here right now. I’m going to win and I’m gonna be the UK’s sweetheart. It’s written in the stars!'”
In fact, Jamie was replaced by former Emmerdale star Kelvin Fletcher who went on to win the show for himself!
Does Jamie have a job?
Well, of course, being a reality star these days is a bona fide job to some. But there’s much more to Jamie than meets the eye. He is also the founder of a luxury confectionary brand called Candy Kittens.
He dreamt up the idea at uni when he decided he wanted to be an entrepreneur and work on something he loved: “I love sweets. I love fashion. I love girls,” he said on The Cut. “So I put the three together and created Candy Kittens.”
Always the salesman, he has said of his tasty gluten-free treats: “They are the healthiest sweets you can eat” and claims “they taste like angels have made them!”
Read more: Strictly Come Dancing: Jamie Laing is confident he will win this year
Where did Jamie grow up?
Jamie was born in Oxford in 1988 to parents Penny and Nicholas. He has an older brother, Alexander and a younger sister, Emily.
He is the great, great grandson of Sir Alexander Grant, 1st Baronet, who is the man behind the McVitie’s empire.
Jamie insists that he has inherited his love for all things sweet and his business savvy from his elders, saying. “Confectionary was always in my blood, which is why I have been in this industry.”
He attended boarding school Radley College, Mander Portman Woodward and Leeds University where he studied Theatre and Performance, which no doubt helped him improvise on Made In Chelsea.
Who is Jamie dating?
Jamie is currently dating his Made In Chelsea co-star Sophie Habboo. The pair were spotted looking all smitten in holiday pics in July 2020, but he’s since admitted that lockdown almost ended their relationship.
“My girlfriend and I nearly broke up about 400 times,” he told Fubar radio. “We nearly broke up over Tupperware. Over Tupperware! Stop putting stuff in Tupperware! Eat it. Stop putting it in Tupperware! What are you doing? No, I hate Tupperware! Get it away from me!”
But the straw that almost broke the camel’s back was Sophie’s insistence that a popular condiment shouldn’t be used in the preparation of one of his favourite meals.
He revealed: “I nearly broke up with my girlfriend because she didn’t think Worcestershire sauce should go on bolognese. I couldn’t handle that. I couldn’t believe she didn’t put Worcestershire sauce in it. That was literally the end of it. But we managed to get through it.”
Read more: Jamie Laing recalls pooing himself in ’embarrassing’ childhood incident
Is Jamie concerned about the Strictly Curse?
Fans of Made In Chelsea will know that Jamie can be a bit of a lothario himself, but he is adamant that he will not be swayed by his dance partner during his turn on Strictly.
“I am being asked all the time about the Strictly curse and do you know poor Sophie had no clue about this whole curse thing,” Jamie said. “She had no idea that everyone couples up when they do Strictly Come Dancing.
“But, hey listen, I don’t think I am a bad guy so I don’t think it will be too bad in the end.
“I am not going to kiss my dancer. It is not like I am going to be some magnet, you know? I don’t think the dancer is going to come anywhere near me.”
Why did Jamie and his Made In Chelsea co-star Sam Thompson fall out?
Sam dated Sophie Habboo for a short time on MIC. When they split, a frisky Jamie didn’t wait for the dust to settle, instead he swooped in and began seeing her instead, putting Sam’s nose firmly out of joint.
Sam later admitted that he’d been hurt that his best mate had started dating his ex and the pair didn’t speak for quite some time.
“Maybe I take things too far emotionally, maybe I am wrong to be so hurt, but I’m still hurt for sure,” Sam told Grazia at the time. “I don’t think you should really do that to another friend.
“I screamed and shouted at him to be honest. Called him every name under the sun.”
However, he seemed not to hold any grudges toward his ex. “She doesn’t owe me anything,” he said. “I’ve only really known her a year and a bit. I would have liked her to pick someone else – not my best mate – but hey, what can you do?”
Luckily, it seems Sam and Jamie have since patched things up.
Has Jamie had a hair transplant?
His spiky white-blonde locks have always been Jamie’s trademark feature, but it turns out he’s had some help in keeping his tresses looking so prosperous.
Last year, he admitted that he spent around £5,000 and eight hours under the knife to have a hair transplant to reduce the size of his ever-expanding forehead.
“My friend decided to go for a hair transplant and I decided to go with him,” he revealed on his podcast Private Parts. “We decided to go to the best place ever. We went to Nottingham because apparently that is the place of hair transplants.”
However, unlike most TV personalities with massive social media followings, Jamie actually forked out for the procedure from his own pocket! What!?
Strictly returns to our screens on Saturday 17 October on BBC One
Are you glad to see Jamie Laing back on Strictly? Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix.