Jaime Winstone says Strictly dance-off brought back painful school memories
Jaime Winstone has emotionally told how she found it "horrifying" to be in the first Strictly Come Dancing bottom two of the series.
Jaime Winstone found it "horrifying" to be in the first Strictly Come Dancing bottom two of the series.
The 41-year-old actress faced Chris Appleton to stay in the competition over the weekend and while the hairdresser and his professional partner Amy Dowden were eliminated, the Babs star admitted the dance-off brought back painful memories of her school days and the feeling that "no one" liked her.
Speaking to host Ellie Taylor on Strictly: It Takes Two, Jaime admitted she was “not used to being so vulnerable on camera” and described waiting to learn if she was staying in the competition a “horrific feeling”.
She tearfully said: "It was terrifying. All the feelings of 'Oh, nobody likes me, and we got so much wrong'. But, I loved doing the dance, I love the Cha Cha...
"It has been really emotional, there were certain things that Chris said yesterday – you really do go back to that child in school going ‘I don’t fit in’ – when actually some of the greatest things about you are what make you stand out.
"Yeah, a lot of insecurities happened yesterday. But you know, it’s not how you fall, it’s how you get back up again.”
Her professional partner Carlos Gu admitted he was "heartbroken" to have been in the dance-off for the first time in three years but insisted his feelings were more "for Jaime" than himself, with him believing the decision was "unfair".
The couple revealed this weekend will see them perform a Viennese Waltz to Never Tear Us Apart, and Jaime plans to use her emotional week to her advantage.
She said: "Oh my god, it's really emotional! It's emotional. Coming in with the energy, I can use it as the tools, you know? As an actor, I can go, 'Right ok, I am feeling really emotional from last weekend' But also, it's really powerful."
Carlos was also upset that his friend Amy received an early exit for the second year in a row.
He wrote on Instagram earlier this week: "My heart is broken!!! To my sister from another mother @amy_dowden, to @chrisappleston1, I wish people could [have] had more chance to see what a beautiful human you are!"
Earlier this week, Chris spoke about how "vulnerable" he felt on Strictly.
Asked about the biggest challenge he faced on the show, he said: “I think it was just going out there, being so vulnerable. I think the last time I felt that vulnerable was, I don’t know, as a kid at school, because I became good at what I did in my career and I felt like I knew it.
“So going out there and dancing… if you’d ever said to someone about me dancing, they would laugh! My son said to me when I said I was going to do Strictly, ‘Dad, you better start doing yoga, because those hips are really stiff.’ And I laughed at it, but I didn’t really realise, when I’d be standing in front of the nation doing it, that he was right.”
