During the very first series of Strictly Come Dancing in 2004, Jayde Adams turned to her sister or her mum – she can’t quite remember which – and said: “I’m going to be on Strictly.” This year, she is doing just that. Adams – actor, comedian and force of nature – has realised her dream and she is very excited, flipping between not quite believing it and shrugging at its sheer inevitability. What does she love about the show? “It’s what I know,” she says. “I grew up wearing fluorescent costumes with crystals on them – that’s normal to me.”
As a child, growing up in Bristol, Adams would enter freestyle disco-dancing competitions alongside her sister Jenna, who was two years older than her. It is not something she thinks will give her any particular advantage on Strictly – except maybe her experience in learning a routine – because of disco’s frenetic, techno pace. “But we used to do the cha-cha-cha quite a lot together,” she says. “It wasn’t part of dancing for us but we knew it. We used to go clubbing and do synchronised dance routines, and everyone would watch.”
