As JB Gill wowed the Strictly crowd with his waltz, his two children, Ace and Chiara, were watching on 鈥 albeit not on Saturday night.
According to JB, the whole family - ten-year-old Ace, six-year-old Chiara as well as their mum Chloe - gather around the TV to watch Strictly on 大象传媒 iPlayer on Sunday, after Ace鈥檚 football training.
The former JLS star, now living on a working farm with his family, has fully embraced the Strictly Come Dancing training schedule, although this isn鈥檛 the first time he鈥檚 donned the sequins 鈥 JB won the Strictly Christmas Special all the way back in 2012.
Tiny Happy People asked how he鈥檚 balancing this exciting new challenge with his responsibilities as a dad鈥
First off, we would love to know how you announced the Strictly news to your family? Were they excited?
鈥淚 invited all my family over for a BBQ and announced that I was on Strictly there!
鈥淭hey all thought I was announcing a pregnancy with my wife Chloe, so they were expecting different news, but the whole family are fans of the show and they鈥檙e looking forward to watching me on TV and even coming down to the studio to cheer me on.鈥
And how are they planning on supporting you in your time on Strictly? Will they get to see you dance live?
鈥淔amily is everything to me. Chiara has already made cards and little tokens for me to put in my dressing room for the live shows and then my wife will be there every single week for as long as I鈥檓 in it.鈥
鈥淎ce wants to watch all the shows live but he has football the following morning so we鈥檒l watch with the kids after football on Sunday.鈥
With the amount of work going into your dance training every week, how are you keeping in touch (or keeping an eye) on the kids?
鈥淐hloe is the best. She will literally hold down the fort for me while I鈥檓 in rehearsals, but I鈥檓 planning to do the morning school run every day.
鈥淎nd once the kids have finished school and all their activities, we'll hopefully be able to have dinner together most days which is an important time for us to debrief about training and chat about the days that we've had.鈥
Your wife Chloe is a dancer and you had a lot of dancing experience in your time with JLS. Has dancing always been a big part of family life and your kids鈥 childhood?
鈥淢y daughter dances, just like her mummy - she was born with it in her body!鈥
鈥淪he does ballet, tap and modern at the same school my wife trained at since she was three years old.
鈥淏oth Chiara and Ace are very musical though. Ace sings all day and dancing while we sing makes us all laugh.鈥
What are your favourite songs to dance to as a family?
鈥淲e dance to the Trolls theme music all the time! The kids love listening to Usher and Justin Timberlake too and all of the TikTok trending artists like Jack Harlow, which they tend to dance along to in the car.鈥
What are you most looking forward to seeing in the future, as a dad?
鈥淚 just can鈥檛 wait to see what Ace and Chiara will end up doing as adults.
鈥淭hey are both blessed with some incredible gifts and nothing will give me more pride than seeing them flourish in whatever it is that they choose to do when they grow up.鈥
JB has been an ambassador for 大象传媒 Tiny Happy People since our launch in 2020. Here's what he had to say about the campaign:
Tiny Happy People is incredibly important. All the activities are great for your child鈥檚 future communication skills to help them get the best start.
Best of luck in the ballroom, JB!
