The Sunday Times Magazine • 7though, and how incredibly confident she is. Janette
loves Disney and her life motto is from Walt Disney —
“All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to
pursue them.” She proves that to me every single day.
Janette
Aljaz says the first time we met it was love at first sight,
but I was not really in that realm. I’d only just left home
in LA to join Burn the Floor in England, so I was just
focused on my dancing. I think not seeing him straight
away as someone that I would date meant I got to know
him really well first. One night over dinner he was
discussing what relationships meant to him with a
mutual friend. Hearing him talk in such a deep way was
eye-opening, and next time he asked me out I said yes.
When we were coming to the end of our Burn the Floor
contracts we hadn’t booked any new work yet. That
meant we were facing keeping our relationship going
long distance while Aljaz was back in Slovenia, with me in
LA. We were nervous about how we’d make it work, but
then the call to join Strictly really saved us. People love to
speculate about a Strictly curse but for us it was a blessing.
The first year on the show was definitely the toughest
because we had underestimated how huge it was and
the degree to which our relationship would be in the
spotlight. Some of the press did spread lies about an
affair between Aljaz and Abbey Clancy, but we didn’t let
it bother us because we always knew the truth. We have
always been solid. If there’s a secret to our marriage, it’s
that we started as best friends and always communicate.
We don’t get jealous at all about each other’s dancing
partners because we understand that what we do is art.
I remember telling [the actress] Gemma Atkinson
when she was doing a rumba with Aljaz in 2017 that she
needed to gaze into his eyes and believe for those 90
seconds that he was the love of her life. We’ve stayed
friends with all of our past celebrity partners.
To say I missed dancing on Strictly this year is an
understatement, but presenting It Takes Two is a dream
come true. When I told Aljaz he cried just as much as I
did; he knew how much it meant to me. It is bittersweet
to not be performing group numbers together, but we’ll
be dancing together in a new show next year.
I think there is misconception that we have this
perfect glamorous life. We worked very, very hard to get
to where we are. The days when you’re exhausted, or
your muscles hurt or you’re sick, you just have to go on
no matter what. Dancing is something that we love more
than anything but this great reward comes with much
great sacrifice. People can be blinded by the glitter.
Aljaz is one of the best dancers I’ve ever seen on
stage. When you see someone who is passionate about
something they love it is beautiful to watch. And when
we do dance together we go into a weird parallel world
where only we exist. I feel very lucky to say that I have
him as my partner for dancing and for life nInterviews by Helen Cullen
Photograph by Paul Stuart
Aljaz appears in the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas
Special on Christmas Day. Both star in Remembering the
Oscars, touring from March 19; rememberingtheoscars.comSTRANGE HABITS
Aljaz on Janette
She wears a Minnie
Mouse eye mask to
bed every nightJanette on Aljaz
He uses online
gaming to keep in
touch with friends
back at home