As the new celebrities enjoy their first group session with the Strictly Come Dancing professional dancers, former pro Ola Jordan has opened up about how her body confidence was rocked during her time on the BBC show.
Saying that she is now “too old” for the show, 36-year-old Ola revealed that she had to work hard to maintain her slimline figure.
It was also revealed that she felt “pressured” to be thin during her time as a Strictly professional.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Ola said: “When you’re on the show there is a thing in your head, you don’t wanna stand there. I was never the thinnest girl and I was never that lucky thin girl, I had to work for it.”
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She added: “People would say: ‘Oh my god your body is amazing,’ and I worked for it. I’d go to the gym a lot, I watched what I ate. I worked for it a lot – it didn’t come easy for me.”
Adding that she’s more relaxed since leaving the show after 10 years in 2015, Ola – who is married to fellow former pro James Jordan – says she knows she doesn’t have the body she had six years ago, but she’s okay with that.
View this post on InstagramLovely night out with my hubby @jamesjordan1978 Thank you @syco for a lovely party 💃🏼🕺🏼
She said: “When you’re younger, you’re like: ‘Oh my God, I’ve got to be skinny and I’ve got to look as good as the other girls’. You’re on a show in a tiny costume being compared to the other professionals, so you’re not gonna have that cake.”
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Ola is now a judge on Dancing With The Stars in Poland.
The star also opened up about the “sad” split for Strictly professionals Neil and Katya Jones.
Speaking to Hello!, she said: “It’s really sad, but if that’s what they needed to do, then that’s what they needed to do.”
She also revealed that she thinks Neil should get a celebrity partner after being overlooked for good-looking professionals such as Gorka Marquez.
She said: “He deserves it because he’s one of the best ones there.”
It was recently revealed that Gorka won’t be partnered with a celebrity this year, something his girlfriend Gemma Atkinson called “sad”.
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