Walking The Dog with Emily Dean - Janette Manrara (Part One)

Episode Date: September 10, 2024

Today we’re in South London’s Burgess Park with television presenter, choreographer and professional dancer Janette Manrara - and we have a very special bonus guest - her daughter Lyra! Janette is best known for appearing as a professional dance on Strictly Come Dancing - and since 2021 she has co-hosted Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two! Janette is married to her Strictly co-star Aljaž Škorjanec and their daughter Lyra was born in July 2023 - we think she was pretty taken by Raymond (and the geese!) Janette has a history with dogs back at home in Miami - but life as a performing family means that she doesn’t have a dog at the moment… but there may be one in the future! After her family immigrated from Cuba to Miami, Janette tells us about being a happy child in a happy household and how that gave her a positive outlook on life. She tells the story of how she went from working in a bank to becoming a professional dancer - and what happened when she met Aljaž for the first time… was it love at first sight?! Tiny Dancer, Big World: How to Find Fulfilment from the Inside Out is out on Thursday 12th September - you can buy your copy hereFollow Janette on Instagram @JManaraFollow Emily: Instagram - @emilyrebeccadeanX - @divine_miss_emWalking The Dog is produced by Faye LawrenceMusic: Rich Jarman Artwork: Alice LudlamPhotography: Karla Gowlett  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The only thing we argue about is choreographing. Because I will want to do a step one way. Ali Ash will want to do it another way. And I'm going, no, but the music is saying this. And he's going, but I feel it should be that. And then as soon as we get together and we dance it, it's the best feeling in the world. It's like the dancing becomes our therapy

and we forget about everything that just happened when we were choreographing it. This week on Walking the Dog, Raymond and I went for a stroll with TV presenter, choreographer and dancer Jeanette Manrara, who you'll obviously know from her appearances as a dance professional on Strictly Come Dancing, alongside her husband, fellow dancer Aliash, and her role presenting its spin-off show It Takes 2.

Jeanette currently lives in Cheshire, but we met up when she was down in London for the day in Southwark's Burgess Park, and we had a bit of a bonus guest this week because Jeanette brought along her and Aliash's one-year-old daughter Lyra, who was genuinely one of the most charming, and well-behaved one-year-olds I've ever met in my entire life. And unsurprisingly, she's already strutting around like a true dance pro. Jeanette and I had such a lovely chat on our walk.

She told me all about her childhood, growing up with her very warm, noisy family, who were Cuban immigrants to Miami, her passion for dance, which started at an incredibly young age, and the setbacks that she sprung back from to establish the hugely successful entertainment career that she has today. We also, of course, chatted about her love story with Aliash and the new book she's written Tiny Dancer Big World, which is a collection of life lessons and motivational thoughts that have all come out of her own personal experiences.

And it's a very inspiring, joyful book that also gives you a lot of insight into what makes her tick. And you can get ordering your copy now as it comes out on September the 12th. I really hope you enjoy my chat with Jeanette. I'm going to stop talking now and hand over to the woman herself. Here's Jeanette and Lyra and Raymond. Well, I'm having to carry Ray already, Jeanette. Do you think I should put him down? I mean, it depends what kind of doggy is.

I mean, Lyra might be... She wants to play with him. Look at her. She's looking at him intensely. Your daughter, Lyra, is absolutely obsessed with him already. Yeah. And I'm kind of obsessed with her. Do you want to say hello to Raymond, Lyra?

Say hello. He's a doggy. Say hello, doggy. I should tell everyone who I'm with. I'm with, but very wonderful, Jeanette Manorra. Have I said that right? You did. Good.

Yeah. I mean, you could do that. The Latina version is Manrara. Do you know I'm going to give it a good? Go on. Jeanette Manrara. Yes. That is it.

Well done. No one's ever been able to roll their ars like that. That's really good. I had an actress mother who was very theatrical. Oh, Jeanette Mandrara, yeah. Well, I've got, you know what, I've got a bit of the Cuban Inman. You do. Look. Nice. You've got the hip action.

So I'm with the wonderful Jeanette Mandrara. Yes. And we're with Raymond. But Jeanette hasn't turned up alone. No. You get two for the price of one. Yeah. Because, Jeanette, do you want to tell us who you have brought with you today?

Well, at the moment, I feel a bit like I am my... single mom because my husband is off away at work and we live up North in Cheshire so I brought along my little girl Lyra Rose 13 months old already has been to Paris Miami and all across the UK can you believe that she's iconic she's so used to the showbiz life I think when she was three months old Aliash and I were on tour across the UK and we had to bring her with us so she's been used to trains and cars and late nights and weird early starts and she's quite content as we're going for a lovely walk she's even happier it's a beautiful day

I don't often say this about babies yeah but she's very sort of self-possessed and you can tell can't you she knows who she is she's very expression is comfortable in your own skin yeah when she was born we had a playlist of music for her to be born to and we decided what we whatever song she's born to will just let the music play and it'll be what it will be. But for some reason on the day we kept going, Little Bity Pretty One, you know, from Matilda. And right before she was born, the doctor said, right, she's coming in two minutes.

Is there anything you want to hear in specific? And I looked at Aliyahs and I said, let's play Little Biddy Pretty One. And that song is Matilda, really, isn't it? And Matilda is such a magical little girl. And I feel like, you know, Lyra has a bit of that Matilda magic about her. Everybody that meets her says something similar. So I don't know what it is, but it's in there. Ray, can you not drop your poo near Jeanette's absolutely beautiful blush pink shoes?

That's okay. Because that would be the worst thing you'd ever done. Now, Lyra is looking, I'm not going to lie, with a little bit of judgment, at Ray pooing on the grass. She's like, excuse me, I like wearing that. She's like, where's your diaper? I can't know. He just did a word. Lee, Lyra, it's okay.

And the name Lyra is beautiful. Thank you. Was that just something you like? Because I think of the Philip Paul. The character. Yeah. The book, yeah. So I've never read the book, but everybody mentions that character to me.

And the character, Lyra in the book, is quite brave and intelligent and courageous and does her own thing. So I feel like Lyra's personality is that anyway. Yeah. I knew I wanted the name Rose involved. Because I love all. Wait, we've got friends. Hello. Hello, what's this dog called? Beppe.

Beppe. Hello. What kind of dog is Beppe? It's a miniature schnauzer. Say hello. No, Beppe. No. Hello.

No, Beppe, no. He's cute, too. Hello. Hello. Bepe's not sure what to make of my dog. Bye-bye. He wants to play with a dog. He wants to play.

Say bye bye, Lionel. Unfortunately, he cannot approach all the dogs because not all of them are friendly. Bye-bye. Bye, Beth Hey. Oh, he's beautiful. Lovely to meet you. Look at Ray. Ray's like, yeah, great.

Ray's just like really... He's cool as a cucumber, Ray. Look at him, he really is. And he's never made a sound. I mean, he's got better hair than I do. Geez. We should say, you haven't come with a dog today. You've come with Lyra.

Laura, is it dog something that you would think of getting Edward or pert? Absolutely. I grew up with dogs. We had a beautiful Doberman, Naco. Unfortunately, we just had to say goodbye to him this summer, which is really tough on the family. And is this back in Miami? Back in Miami, yeah. So dogs is definitely going to be a part of my life.

I just need to, it's because we travel so much and we're away a lot for work and between London and living up north, I feel like the poor thing, we're probably We live a lot in doggy hotels and, you know, not with us. And it doesn't feel right just yet. I think once Lyra starts school, because we'll have to be settled and have to be in one spot, that will be when we can get a dog. But trust me, if it was up to me in Aliash, I mean, we almost got one a couple of months ago and I had to put the break.

I was like, no, we can't. We just can't right now. But when we see dogs, they're just man's best friend, aren't they? They're just such beautiful things. And I would love for Lyra to have an affection for a living. little friends. So we definitely will. We definitely, definitely will. Well, the time is right. Well, I have to say

she's already quite sold on Raymond, I think. Yeah. So let's go back because you talk about this a lot in Tiny Dance of Big World and it's very aptly titled because of course you are tiny but then so am I. And you know, I felt so happy

when I saw you because I thought, oh she's one of my people. Yeah, we understand each other, don't we people are size? we see the world in a very different way literally you tell the story in your book of essentially your background and how you are

where you are and it all started really with your grandparents who were Cuban immigrants to Miami and it was an extraordinary story really Jeanette, wasn't it? Because they actually, I mean, your mother was literally put on a boat

with a piece of paper saying here's a number or here's an address, call someone. One quarter. One quarter and a piece of paper with a phone number on it. Yeah. On a speedboat with her brother, two brothers and sister, my aunt and uncles, they were all so young. I think the eldest was my aunt and she was only about 16. My mom was 11. And they, uh, they, got on a speedboat and I'll be honest like it was not a good speed boat either they were doing some kind of human trafficking deal at the time um I'm sure drugs were involved as well illegal drug trafficking but you know when you're desperate for freedom and you just want to get out of a situation you just do what you need to do and because my grandparents didn't fit on the boat with uh my mom and

her brothers and sisters they went off on their own just the kids got to the beach and my mom recalls being exhausted, thirsty, tired, scared. And they found a payphone just near the beach where they were dropped off and called the number. And it was like a family friend that was already living in Miami that picked them up and took them home until my grandparents came a couple days later in the same way on another speedboat. When you hear those stories and you think, oh gosh, my life could have been so different

if I would have been born somewhere else. If it wasn't for that kind of bravery of my grandparents to put their kids through and you know get up and leave home really God knows what my life would have turned out to be like I think where you're born matters so much in life you know you we're lucky that we here in the UK or somewhere like the USA we have the ability to do what we like and follow our dreams and can really do anything you want to do if you apply yourself to it but that's not the case in many many parts of the world and I don't take that for granted so I've always felt this innate sense of responsibility to make them proud, to do good in the world, to live my best life and do

all the things that I want to do without any regrets. And yeah, that's why I felt it was important to bring that story up because it creates context to why I am the way I am and why I'm so driven, I guess, in a lot of ways to make things happen, you know? I imagine takes a lot of resilience and courage and boldness to make that trip, you know, and to start a new life in a new place, it's frightening. And I think I'm interested in that your parents would have grown up around that energy. And then they go on and pass that on to you, presumably.

Yeah. Because of what they went through, my mom was a synchronized swimmer. And she got a gold medal in Cuba for duets in synchronized. Well, now it's called artistic swimming, isn't it? So she was an artistic swimmer, and my dad sings. He's got the most beautiful singing voice and he writes his own songs and so they were both

artistic in nature their whole lives, but obviously when you are in a country like Cuba where you know it's communist government and everything's quite, it's a different world altogether. They weren't really able to do what they wanted to do. So when they came to Miami, they were very young. I mean, my mom and dad stayed together. I mean, that's a whole other book one day. The love story of my parents. They didn't see each other for two years and they stayed in touch through letters and my mom has

every single letter that my dad ever wrote to her. And then I was born when they were very young. They were only 18 when I was born. But I think because they were young and in a new country, in a new place, in a new world really altogether, they were big dreamers. They wanted me to just, they've never made me feel like I couldn't do anything I wanted to do.

Because when you come from a place where you can't do anything you want to do, that's the biggest kind of thing you want to pass down to your children is that you should do what makes you happy and do whatever that is, do it. And they really instilled that in me from day one. She's really... She wants to see him. Where's the doggy?

Let me put the pacifier on. Shall we get the pacifier? Hi, you? Hiya. Hiya. I'll put you down, Ray, for a bit. And so, your household, Jeanette, I get the impression,

and I hope this isn't a very sort of, you know, cliched assumption of me, but I'm imagining, from your description of it actually, it's just that I'm thinking Cuban immigrants in Miami, a lot of music, very lively. It's exactly that. Good Cuban food, parties and music literally for any reason. If there was something to celebrate, we'd get together,

have good food and dance. It just was what it was. I always say that I started walking basically the same time I started dancing. There was no in between. But yeah, it was a very, for how little we had in terms of things, you know, at one point me and my mom and my dad and my brother and I shared one room between the four of us, yeah. And for how little we had, it didn't matter. It didn't matter because we were just so happy with being there and being together. So there wasn't much money. No, I know.

But you had, as you said, you had two siblings. You were the oldest. What was your dynamic like with your siblings? Because the oldest child, I wasn't the oldest child, I was the youngest child, but I'm always fascinated by the oldest child. What do you think, what legacy did that give you? Oh, I mean a massive sense of responsibility. And it's probably more just me, not my parents putting that on me. I think when you're the firstborn, I see my brother and my sister. They're literally like my best friends, but I also feel like they're second mom.

And my sister's 13 years younger than me. We're 13 years apart, so we have a massive age gap. Does she come along when your parents finally got their room to themselves? Oh, yeah, yeah. Mom and Dad finally got their own room, and then Leslie came along. So me and my brother couldn't be there to ruin their nights anymore. But, yeah, I think when you're the eldest, you do feel just in an innate sense of responsibility that you've got to look after them.

And I was always that. I always defended my brother and my sister at school or at anything really. A bit like a lioness. They were like mine. And I still feel like that about them now. I mean, we are super, super, super close and we talk almost every day. And I'm there for them. And they know that they can count on me for literally anything.

Were you quite a sort of happy, sunny natured kid? Very, very happy kids. Always putting on shows to the family. Class clown. Just to happy. I think I grew up in a happy home. You know, my mom and dad were always playing music. My dad was such a clown, always making me laugh.

My mom, any chance that we could, we'd go to the beach and she'd do, you know, her swimming and dancing, and it was just a happy home. And that's why I think it's so crucial that kids, it doesn't matter what you have, it's how you approach your life. It makes such a difference in your children's future. I think the fact that they gave me so much love and affection made me a happy kid, just made me a happy person.

And I think also you probably, because there are some people who would have grown up in that, with that lovely energy, but they still might not have felt as sort of on top of the world as you. And I think there's genetics that come into it as well, maybe. You probably do have a lot of natural dopamine or serotonin. Maybe, yeah. I eat a lot of bananas.

And apparently they're like the happy fruits. So you have a lot of bananas, you might be just as happy. And your talent for dancing, this was clearly something that was evident at quite a young age, really. There's a video of me when I was three. We used to go as a family to this place called Marco Island in Florida. There's a video of me dancing in the little apartment we used to stay in. All together, literally all like me, grandma, grandpa, mom, dad. I mean, I remember us just sleeping on the floor and my dad and the couch.

and a wall just made it work just to get a holiday. It's like Little Miss Sunshine. But I love performing. I've always loved putting on shows. I don't know. I think that was naturally in me, though. But I think with my dad being a singer and mom being an artistic swimmer, I was bound to have something creative within me.

Lira! Oh, no, Rachel, you're off. She sees the birds. She sees the ducks. She's getting excited with the ducks. Look at the ducks. The geese. Look how noisy. Yeah, they are.

I think they are. Look on many. Wow, we! Look at these geese. Look how many? Can you see them? I'm actually picking Ray up because I think the geese might see Raymond's hors d' hors d'oeu. They're so lovely the way they're always in formation.

I think it's like friendships where geese, they always fly next to each other in formation. Yeah, it's beautiful. So you always know the other people are there. Yeah, like dancers in the sky. So you knew at an early age that you wanted to become a performer or do you think there was a part of you? Because we'll get to this. But I wonder if there was a part of you that was almost felt can I really do that? I don't know how to answer that.

I think I knew what I loved to do. Did I ever think it would become my career or become what I did for work? I don't know. I knew that I loved performing since I was very little. And it was always something that I was going to do one way or another. It wasn't never going to be a part of my life. But whether or not it was going to end up paying the bills someday, that's a whole other conversation. But I think in Aitley, yeah, I mean, I was such a bossy kid. I would make all my cousins play parts and be like, well, you're the bad guy, you're the one that wants to be saved,

you're the good guy that's a friend with someone. And I would create all these crazy storylines and put show. on for my family every year for Christmas we'd do a whole script and I'd get my uncle to write the script because I couldn't do it myself so my uncle I'd be like okay so I'm gonna play grandma this year you're gonna play mom and dad like and I would literally just put on a show just because oh hello gorgeous to put your giraffe back in thank you so yeah I think performing was always there there was no way it wasn't gonna do it it's just you know I think we lose that magic of

what we feel when we're kids really makes us happy as we become adults. We lose that kind of innate sense of just things that bring you joy for no other reason other than they bring you joy. I think I got lucky that I was able to keep doing that now forever as part of my job. Well, although I don't know if you did get lucky, I think you worked really hard at it. I did. You know, I'm a big believer in that you create your luck. If you work hard and you keep you,

keep persevering, eventually luck comes your way one way or another. The big, big break for you was this US show, so you think you can dance, which, is it presented by Kat Dealey? Kat Deley, yeah. I've known her for years. What's wrong, sweetheart? I wonder if I should take her out and let her walk. Three, two, one.

Up. You're walking so well. Do you want to take my hand? Are you okay? Lyra's just come out of the push chair because I feel like she felt a bit left out. Yeah. And was that your sort of energy when you were a kid?

Were you the sort of, I call it this like, what about me? I think so. I mean, my mom says that everybody looks at her and thinks, oh my God, it's Aliash. But my mom sees her and sees a lot of me and her as well. And I think personality-wise, she's quite similar to me. You know, we'll see. I feel like she's changing constantly.

she's only 13 months and every day I feel like I learn something new about her Yeah Yeah She definitely tells you what she wants Which is good Well that sounds very unlike you, didn't her She's not a baby

She's never been a big crier Just because she's always quite content You know she wants something and she tells you right away Now Like just then She didn't want to be in the prime She's tick me out now Respect

Yeah And so we were talking just now about so you think you can dance just because that was really your biggest break, wasn't it? That was my biggest break, yeah. That's what kind of started the whole snowball effect of dance becoming more than just a hobby for me. It was a bit of a journey that show because it wasn't the sort of Hollywood story of, oh, I auditioned and then I was an overnight star and that didn't happen at all. No. It was more sort of you had to pick yourself up. and get back on the horse because initially you hadn't done as well as you'd hoped. No, no, it was tough actually because it was my first lesson

and I need to be better at believing in myself. And when things don't go your way, it's okay. And the world doesn't end. The first time I auditioned for So You Think was for season four in the USA. And I got all the way to the final round of the auditions and then they told me no. which devastated me because I felt like that was my chance to actually not be at a bank working

so I got all the way to the final round and then didn't get the part didn't get the show and I was devastated I thought that was it because I was in my 20s and I thought I'm never going to make it you know that's it I'm going to stick to banking and dancing will just be something that I do as a side

We need to know about banking no yeah I did I worked at in a bank six years. Yeah, six years in the bank and I was at uni studying finance. I had a brain, you know, Emily. I was a full scholarship to uni because my parents didn't have money. So they said if you want to go university, you're going to have to get a scholarship because we can't afford to pay for it. So I had to keep my academics in order and get my grades up to a point that I was able to get a full scholarship to any university in the whole state

of Florida. Oh, you're okay? You okay? You okay? Yeah, you're okay. That incident was such the child of a dancer, the being taught resilience at an early age. She literally, she just fell on her knees. We should say nothing bad happened. It was just a minor thing where she felt. And you went, you're okay. So what I witnessed there is you're telling her you're okay.

You're not ignoring her. She'd have been upset. Yeah. But it's interesting the way you dealt with that as a parent. I think as as a dancer, you're just used to bruises and pains and scratches. You just deal with it. Oh, birdie, sorry, she saw a bird. We need to stop with a bird.

But I still think it's interesting just seeing that, that sometimes with parents, particularly, I suppose, younger parents, there is that temptation. So I say, oh, darling, are you okay? Are you all right? Yeah. I don't do that, no. Do you know?

No, no. Because I think, you know, life's made of punches and bruises. You just got to get up and carry on. I've learned that. And I want Lyra to be strong and independent and not feel like when she's, She does get hit and bruised. It's the all end because it's not.

The less you react to those kind of things, the less power they have over you. That's how I see it. So we try to give it. I mean, of course, if she's really hurt, I'm going to be. She'll be all right. She'll be all right, imagine. And so the banking thing's really interesting, though,

because you must be good with numbers then. Yeah, I love numbers. Yeah, I was always really good at maths in school. I remember being at university, and I took a business calculus class, and I aced it, got perfect scores all the way through. And I'm like, when am I ever going to use business calculus? But I loved it.

Really? Really? Yeah. I loved numbers and I love psychology and I loved writing. How those come together is through dance because I can tell stories all the way to the number eight. You're a triple threat in every sense. Yeah.

But that's interesting though, because normally people would say, oh, you're kind of this type, your left brain, your right brain. You know, we have all these ways of dividing people. up saying well you're a kind of nerdy type or you're a sciencey type and you're a creative artsy. But you are actually defying that because you're saying, no, I'm all of those things. But why not? I feel like society puts us in boxes already enough and I feel like I don't want to be put in a box ever. I'm not just Jeanette the dancer from Strictly and I'm not just Jeanette the banker and I'm not just Jeanette the mom. I'm all of them. And I think that's, again,

that's what I think we all lose sight of is tapping into those. parts of us that are like kept in the dark. And the more you tap into them, I feel like the happier you're gonna end up being because you're bringing out a part of you that has been left in the dark for so long and it's still a part of you who you are. You went back to so you think you can dance

and you thought, no, I'm gonna re-audition for this and you did, didn't you? Yeah, well, the producer, I mean, I was heartbroken, like I said from the first time around and I almost, almost gave up on that dream. But then the producer called me, Jeff Thacker, who I said, still to this day think every time I see him and said, look, we're coming back.

This time we're going to Miami. I would love for you to audition. And I thought, I'm not going to put myself through all that again and get another no and get devastated. But my parents and all my friends around me were saying, like, look, what's the worst that can happen? They tell you no again. Surely there's something in the producer calling you, telling you to come back.

That's a good sign. Yeah. So, you know, I went a little bit against my will. I was more like, oh, it's going to be a no. It is going to be a no, but, you know, I'll do it anyway. Almost just to prove them wrong, like, say, see, I told you. And then when I went back and I made it past that round, and then the next round and the next round,

and then it was at the final round of the auditions again. I mean, it was triggering because all those feelings started coming back of that moment when I got told no the first time. I can't imagine you lacking in confidence ever heard of you. Oh, it was massively at that point. I was really, really petrified. How does that manifest itself? with you. Do you go into yourself? Do you cry? Do you?

I get very, very quiet. For how chatty I am, I kind of go in when I get like that. And I just don't speak and put myself in a corner away from everything and everyone, which is not great when you're in entertainment. But I got a yes the second time. I got on the show, got all the way to the almost final rounds of the program. And then I got to go on tour with the program all across the US. and that was the sliding doors moment of my life because I still have my job at the bank ready to go. My boss loved me and I had a great team and I was literally moving up the career ladder

like super fast. I was going to be a very successful businesswoman at some point there. So now what have you done with your life? I know. I threw it away. I threw all that away for dance. But I followed my heart.

My parents said, look, banking and numbers and all that that's going to be there forever, but your chance to kind of try your dream and see if that's going to be a possibility for you is right now. So you've got to give this a go, and I did. So they were very supportive. Oh my gosh, which is bizarre. If you think about it, most parents would say to the children, go and finish your master's, then go off and do what you want to do. But my parents are very much like, you need to take this opportunity now while you can. And again, I think it stems from them being dreamers themselves and artistic themselves and that sometimes the train can pass and you can miss a chance.

It's the M&M one shot. Yeah. So I'm very fortunate that I had them to kind of guide me and support me through all that because I don't know if I would be here today really, if I didn't have that little nudge to say, if you don't do this now, you don't want to look back in your life and go, what if? And so suddenly things are taking off in your dance career and the Excel spreadsheets aren't looking as tempting anymore.

Although I still have an Excel spreadsheet now and I live. Love it. It's the geek in me. I have a household budget on my Excel sheet and I love updating it and keeping it in order. And Ali Ash laughs at me because I get really excited because it's just so organized. Are you very organized? Very. Yeah, very. Yeah. I can't cook for the life of me. I might. I can make a fajita. That's about it. And eggs. But in terms of keeping a house tidy and planning and organizing, yes. Count on me. You did a show called Burn the Floor, which was a sort of touring Broadway dance show, wasn't it? Yeah.

And that show was huge for you, wasn't it? Because not only did it really get you the job on strictly, but it also introduced you to lovely Elyash. Love of my life. Yeah, I remember I was in Los Angeles auditioning and just trying to make ends meet gigging, as they would say. and there was a point that my bank account was in such small figures and for somebody who's organized and had just come from a banking job where I knew every week what was coming in and I had a retirement plan and insurance

and to all of a sudden going to the freelance gigging lifestyle was very scary. And my mother said to me, Jeanette, the universe works in mysterious ways. You will be fine, just trust the process. You just keep working hard and it will reward you in one way or the other. And then in came burn the floor And I had never traveled outside the USA ever

I'd never been anywhere outside of Miami of New York and California Because at the time I was living there But they called me and they asked me to come and perform With the team with the main cast in the West End Here at the Shaftbury Theater And that's why I saw London for the first time I just saw anything outside of the USA for the first time

And I was blown away I remember walking arriving here to London and just seeing Big Bend and seeing the London eye and just crying thinking, oh my God, this is like a whole other worlds that I've never experienced or seen. I just wanted to see everything. I remember I was so obnoxiously happy. The rest of the cast were like, I said, guys, is anybody who wanted to do the red bus tour with me?

Nobody wanted to do it. They were all looking at me like, are you joking? I went on my own. I went on my own on the red bus tour. I went on my own to see the trip. changing the guards. I went on my own. I've seen Buckingham Palace four times on my own.

I loved the culture and everything about this place. And then the more I experienced it, the more I wanted to learn about it. And then that burned the floor was incredible because then burn the floor went into a world tour. So I was able to go all over Asia. I went down into Africa. I went to other parts of Europe.

And for somebody that's never seen anything else, it was the most incredible time. in my life, I was doing what I love every single night and seeing so many beautiful parts of the world that I would have never been able to see if I wasn't doing that. So I fell on top of the world all those years that I was doing, burn the floor. And then you add that I fell in love. I was going to say, you said you were seeing so many beautiful parts of the world. And then you saw a beautiful man. We didn't say part. Sorry, no, no, no. Sorry, I don't want to be disrespectful. I'm very invested in your love story, you too.

Yeah. Was it a real heart-stopping, oh, well, who's that when he walked in? Well, I'll be honest. I had just gone through a bad breakup when I met him. And I was not interested in the slightest, in him or anybody. I just didn't care. I didn't want to, because remember, I had just left the US for the first time. And I thought, I want to see the world.

I want to dance. I want to be more me, live my own life. bit more. So there was no interest for me with Ali Ash, bless him when we first met. Yeah. So what happened? But everybody else in the room did though when he walked in. Everybody goes like, whoa, who is that? Yeah, I remember I nudged my friend Ashley who's still a really good friend of mine now. But Ashley was single at the time as well and I remember nudging Ashley and going, oh, he's handsome. But yeah, he was not. He was interested in me from day one. he says. And we were friends for a whole year. We were friends like going up for drinks as the cast.

And I remember at one point he took me out for, we all went out as a cast. Yeah. And he said, when are you going to let me take you on a day or just buy you one drink? And I told them, I told you already. I'm not interested. Can we just be friends? I'm so like, don't want to keep having to do this, Anna Ash. And then he looked at me dead serious and he's like, do you know what? I'm going to marry you one day. You don't know it, but I will. And I just remember going, Okay, yeah. He was right. Yeah.

Was there a part of you that was thinking, oh, okay, I get the story. Good looking guy. Yeah. You know, were you thinking he might be a bit of a player? Because at the time, before that, I dated a guy who shall not be named. We've all got one of those. Yeah. And he was handsome, also a dancer.

And he cheated on me. And I just thought, I am not going to go through that again because men that look a certain way and do a certain thing and are around women all the time. I was burned by it once. I'm definitely not going to go there again. So I just wasn't interested. And I was so excited to explore the world, to just live my life and see things. And just being in a relationship felt like it was just going to stop me.

But Ali Ash, he was adamant to not give up. So we ended up falling in love. across the world because it developed so slowly and it felt like every country we went to together on the show there was a new element to our relationship that developed whether it's you know the first time we kissed or the first time that he took me on a date or the first time that i realized oh i think i like you or all of it developed throughout which was quite beautiful actually when i look back on it i think i wouldn't have had it any other way and now that we're together married and we've got lyra the essence of friendship is still the first part of our relationship we're genuinely

friends before we are anything else and because of that we communicate a lot we are definitely not perfect we argue just like anybody else but because we had that friendship element we talk a lot about things and he tells me openly when you know he's feeling a certain way I tell him when I'm feeling a certain way and that communication for us at least has been crucial to surviving the world of strictly and surviving the world of entertainment it's tough enough but when you do it with your husband it can it can be really tough and I think that's our strength that we talk at least. I really hope you love part one of this week's walking the dog.

If you want to hear the second part of our chat, it'll be out on Thursday. So whatever you do, don't miss it. And remember to subscribe so you can join us on our walks every week.