Bristol Strictly star Jayde Adams has revealed she would have marked the 40th birthday of her late sister Jenna with a special tribute dance re-enacting their freestyle disco dancing duo days, if she was still in the competition. Instead, Jayde and her family are marking the poignant occasion with a fundraising drive for the charity which helped them - and an appeal to all friends to donate the money they would have spent at her 40th birthday party.
If Jayde had been taking to the Strictly dance floor tomorrow she and partner Karen Hauer would have been performing their couples' choice dance and as it would have been Jenna's birthday there was only one possible option. Jayde told Bristol Live she and Karen would have done a freestyle disco dancing style to Firework by Katy Perry - wearing replicas of the costumes that she and Jenna wore as teenagers. “But this just leaves me able to do it on my own stage in the future,” she said.
Jayde won the hearts of the nation with a dance early in the series that was a tribute to Jenna, and also wowed the judges with a now-iconic re-enactment of Flashdance. She was eliminated from the show two weeks ago. Last year and early this year in a BBC We Are England documentary, Jayde spoke of how she gained her love of dance by training and entering freestyle disco dancing competitions around the country with Jenna.
Read next: Ten years on - why Jayde is coming home
Already, a fundraising appeal set up by Jenna’s mum Gail has topped the £1,000 mark, with the money raised going to Brain Tumour Support. Jenna passed away in 2011 after a long battle, and to mark the tenth anniversary of her death last year, Jayde spoke to Bristol Live about how her big sister inspired her to go for her ambition to pursue a stand-up comedy career, which has since led on to acting, TV presenting and appearing on this year’s Strictly Come Dancing.
Now, as what would have been Jenna’s 40th approaches this Saturday, their mum Gail has set up a fundraiser. “Our wonderful Jenna would have been 40 on Saturday, November 5. We made a promise to Jenna that she would never be forgotten - that promise we continue to keep,” said Gail, who is an ambassador for Brain Tumour Support.
“We would like to raise some funds in her memory and to mark what would have been her 40th birthday. So if you would have been buying Jenna a drink or a birthday gift, and may have even been at her birthday party, - Jenna loved a good knees up - or you may have heard about us by other means, please consider giving a donation to this wonderful charity Brain Tumour Support who support families like ours when they are faced with a brain tumour diagnosis,” she added.
- You can donate to Gail Adams' fundraiser for Brain Tumour Support here
Jayde's Journey - read next:
- Bristol's Jayde Adams steals the Strictly launch show in same sex couple
- Funny and poignant documentary shows how Bristol's Jayde Adams is coming home
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