Strictly star Neil Jones shocked after finding out festive partner Tillie Amartey wasn't a dancer

BANG Showbiz

19 December 2023 at 5:00 am·2-min read

Neil Jones was surprised to learn his Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special partner Tillie Amartey didn’t have any dance experience credit:Bang Showbiz

Neil Jones was surprised to learn his 'Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special' partner Tillie Amartey didn’t have any previous dance experience.

The professional dancer, 41, will be taking to the floor with the 20-year-old Children's ITV presenter for a festive one-off on the BBC programme later this month, and during rehearsals Neil was convinced she was au fait with the Latin and ballroom world.

He said: "At the beginning I thought she was a dancer. When she told me she wasn’t, I didn’t believe her, and then I realised when we started she really didn’t have any experience.

"But she picks everything up really quick, and she has her own way and style of dancing which is great."

Tillie revealed her mother had been a dancer, but insisted that didn't mean she was a natural when it came to showing off her moves.

She said: "When I was seven, maybe six, I did one dancing competition, because my mum was a dancer, and I did the competition, but then she asked me if I wanted to horse ride, so I took that instead as I didn’t do too well ... so I’m going to say no!"

Tillie and Neil will be competing against 'Battlefield Britain' host Dan Snow, BBC Breakfast presenter Sally Nugent, 'EastEnders' star Jamie Borthwick and rugby player Danny Cipriani to impress the judges - Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, Anton Du Beke, and Shirley Ballas - in the festive special.

When the 20-year-old TV star was asked which judges she wanted to impress the most, Tillie admitted she is desperate to dazzle Craig and Shirley.

She said: "Anytime I watch 'Strictly', I think, 'Ooh, I want to impress all of the judges, that would be fab-u-lous!'

"But I think I want to impress Craig, and Shirley, because we’re doing a Jive and Shirley really knows her stuff on the Jive so that would be good."

Neil agreed, adding: "Yeah I would say the same. Doing a Jive, we want to impress Shirley. If she turns around and says that Jive was brilliant, then you know it was good."

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