Dancers Janette Manrara and Aljaz Skorjanec have revealed their baby daughter is a fan of the BBC dancing competition Strictly Come Dancing.
The duo have appeared as professionals on the BBC One show and now 39-year-old Manrara hosts the show’s spin-off series It Takes Two.
They are starring in a 17-date tour of their new show Dancing In A Winter Wonderland With Aljaz And Janette, including performances at the London Coliseum, and said they have dedicated one of the dances to their daughter Lyra, who was born in the summer.
Janette Manrara and Aljaz Skorjanec reveal baby daughter likes to watch Strictly
Manrara told the PA news agency: “(Lyra) loves the TV. I know, it’s not good, you shouldn’t let babies watch TV for too long. That’s not good.
“So we only really let her watch Strictly, and then every now and then we’ll put on baby sensory videos, which is like the ones that have the black background, that’s not bad for their eyes and stuff like that.
“But she likes Strictly a lot, she genuinely watches it all. I think the music and the colours and everything. It’s just like her eyes are wild and watching it.
“So I’m kind of hoping she’ll be side of the wing, just kind of like watching mum and dad do their thing.
“You know, it’ll be kind of surreal. There’s a dance in the show that we’re (going to) dedicate to her in the Disney section – of course it is a Disney section – and so for us to know that she’s there and we’re dancing a song for her… It’s (going to) be quite emotional. There might be tears.”
When did Janette Manrara and Aljaz Skorjanec meet?
The couple met in 2010 while performing in the live dance show Burn The Floor and they got married in 2017.
Speaking on the process of getting pregnant, Manrara said: “I mean, we tried for two years naturally, and then we were on the verge of IVF and then, in the middle of the whole IVF process, she kind of came along.
“And now that she’s a part of our life it’s weird, because we kind of feel like we don’t remember what it was like before her.”
Discussing being a father, Skorjanec said: “It’s the most beautiful, the most rewarding and the most all-consuming responsibility you can ever have.
“But I feel like if you just give them love, they kind of give you love back and it’s been brilliant.
“I feel like Janette and I are so lucky, and especially at the beginning, we were both able to spend a lot of time with her.
“And whenever we are free, we do literally just stay home and enjoy the company of ourselves and so she has been always surrounded with at least one of us.”
The Dancing In A Winter Wonderland With Aljaz And Janette tour will start in Portsmouth on Tuesday, November 21 and finish in Bath on Tuesday, December 19.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here