Georgina Bouzova / James Jordan on GMB
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James Jordan hits back as unearthed footage of him ‘fat-shaming’ celeb partner Georgina Bouzova in Strictly rehearsals sparks backlash

They danced together 18 years ago

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Former Strictly pro James Jordan recently took to Twitter to defend himself after some controversial unearthed footage of his time on the show became unearthed.

The footage comes from James’ rehearsals with actress Georgina Bouzova back in 2006.

Now, according to a new report, Strictly host Claudia Winkleman could become involved in the ongoing scandal from her time hosting It Takes Two.

James Jordan and Georgina Bouzova on Strictly
James and Georgina danced together in 2006 (Credit: BBC)

Unearthed footage of Strictly star James Jordan

Back in series four of Strictly in 2006, James was paired up with Casualty actress Georgina.

The pro dancer, 46, and Georgina, now 48, became eliminated fourth. In the wake of the Graziano Di Prima scandal, old footage of James in rehearsals has emerged this week. It’s safe to say it doesn’t look great.

In footage of his rehearsals with Georgina, James threatens that he would “drag her across the floor and scream at her” if she forgot her moves.

Another clip shows James calling Georgina “chubby”. “He thinks that I’m a bit of a porker,” Georgina then tells the camera in another clip.

In a clip of Georgina doing sit-ups in rehearsals, James brands her a “lazy cow”. He also appears to call her “fat belly”.

Another clip shows James throwing a chair across the studio. He also told Georgina that he didn’t care what pain she was in unless she’d broken a rib.

Claudia Winkleman on This Morning
Claudia faces criticism now, reports claim (Credit: ITV)

Claudia on It Takes Two

According to a new report in the MailOnline, Claudia would regularly introduce clips of pro dancers on the programme.

However, she’s been accused of making light of the footage of James and Georgina as she called him “an extraordinary human being” at the time of introducing it.

The clip also reportedly featured Brendan Cole shouting at celeb partner Claire King.

At the time, the BBC added Duran Duran’s song Wild Boys over the footage. Claudia said on It Takes Two at the time: “What better way to launch a new show than with a visit from the wild boys of Strictly.”

A source told the publication: “Claudia was doing her job at the time when clearly the BBC thought such behaviour was acceptable. She was reading what was on a script. But she does make light of the behaviour and it hasn’t gone unnoticed across online platforms.

“Undeniably, they were different times but unfortunately it now is being looked at through today’s lens. Of course Claudia would not ever think treating someone like that was okay.”

ED! has contacted reps for Claudia for comment.

James Jordan hits back amid Strictly abuse allegations

After the old footage emerged this week, James hit back, defending himself.

Taking to social media, he shared a snap of himself and Georgia dancing together.

“For those of you who have seen the edited BBC VT of me training with Georgina 18 years ago – yes I had hair once!!” he wrote.

“But I just wanted to reassure you that footage was shot and edited together by the BBC team for transmission on It Takes Two 18 years ago in specific ways for the purposes of ENTERTAINMENT,” he then continued.

“Many of the clips were not related to Georgina at all (they are not allowed to do that these days as it misrepresents what actually happened) but were included for the purpose of exaggeration,” he then said.

“The BBC thought it would be fun to put this VT together in the way they did. You can see Georgina laughing about it in the studio and in the clips… And I have never received ANY complaints from any of my celebrity dance partners in the 8 years I was on the show.”

Graziano Di Prima speaking to camera
Graziano faces misconduct allegations (Credit: BBC)

James defends himself

James then continued. He said that if he’d actually “genuinely upset” anyone, the footage wouldn’t have been edited together like it was.

“The producers loved to paint me as the bad guy and I played along… always a perfectionist… but I would never have deliberately upset anyone and pride myself on good friendships with my celebrity dance partners,” he then said.

James then said that he suggests no one attempt to link the footage to the recent allegations made against Giovanni Pernice and Graziano.

“There is no comparison to be drawn between those awful allegations and the highly produced and exaggerated VT from the BBC archives that is featuring on social media. To be clear, I deplore bullying or abusiveness in the workplace,” he then said.

Read more: Strictly fans’ predictions for 2024 line-up – from Barney Walsh and This Morning’s Craig Doyle to Shane Lynch

Strictly IIT - James and Georgina's IIT interview

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Robert Emlyn Slater
Senior Writer