Strictly Come Dancing contestant Michelle Williams has revealed that she is working even harder now that she is being partnered by Ian Waite.

The former Destinys Child star was left in the lurch this week, after Brendan Cole’s dad died and he was forced to return to New Zealand. He will therefore miss this Saturday’s show and Williams will instead dance with Waite.

Speaking about her new partner on It Takes Two this evening Michelle revealed:

“They’re both amazing. He’s just as strict as Brendan, probably a little stricter.”

Ian laughed:

“That’s good. I know people think of me as a big softie.”

He added: “Brendan’s given me lots of directions, how to handle Michelle.”

On being at the bottom of the group on Sunday Michelle said:

“It was one of the worst feelings in the world. I honestly thought I’m not ready to go home yet.

“I’d made plans to be here at least.

“I was so relieved. I had tears flowing. You’d thought they’d called my name to go home.”

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Ian Waite and Darren Bennett will return to Strictly Come Dancing as part of this series’ new professional dance group, and will be joined by four new recruits – one male and three female – who will be confirmed as the series draws nearer.

Matthew Cutler won’t return as a permanent member of the dance group. Instead, he’s concentrating on a burgeoning choreographic and teaching career, plus managing his own dance school, which he opened last year. He will, however, return to choreograph some of the group numbers – and a few guest appearances aren’t ruled out.

Matt said: “I’ve absolutely loved my time on Strictly, and now is a good time to focus on developing new areas of my career. I’m excited about having more time to commit to new projects and, of course, still having a hand in Strictly without all the training!”

Lilia Kopylova will also be bowing out of Strictly but, like Matt, will stay with the show on an ad hoc basis and may make a guest appearance.

Lilia said “I’ve had six brilliant series on the show, I will miss it, but I am looking forward to new opportunities ahead. Of course I will be there to support Darren and all of my fellow professionals.”

The professional dance group will perform spectacular routines throughout the show, in a series which is bigger, better and, more than ever, all about the dance.

View the original post Ian Waite and Darren Bennett return for Strictly Come Dancing 2010 on Unreality TV

Strictly Come Dancing contestant Jade Johnson has reportedly been losing her temper with her partner Ian Waite, after she struggled to master this week’s dance The Jive.

An insider told The Sun: “Jade is a really strong personality. She’s in it to win it and she won’t accept second best from herself – or Ian. They are getting very frustrated and Jade is used to picking things up much more quickly than this.

“There have been a lot of cross words and everything has got a bit emotional.”

Jade and Ian scored their highest marks last week (35 out of 40), but still ended up in the bottom two.

A source said:

“They are falling out, but they always make up. Everything looks effortless on the dance floor but in reality it’s a long and hard slog. Being a contestant on Strictly is not an easy ride whether you’re a celebrity or a professional.”

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Strictly Come Dancers, Jade Johnson and Ian Waite were involved in a car crash yesterday. The pair were traveling to the rehearsal studios when the two car collision occurred.

A source on the BBC1 show told The Sun: “Ian and Jade were quite shaken up. They were saying, ‘Oh my God, we’ve just crashed.

“But once they realised it wasn’t too serious they were fine and got on with training when they reached the BBC’s Television Centre in west London.

“They think it might have happened when the car went over a boulder in the road.”

View the original post Strictly Come Dancing: Jade Johnson & Ian Waite In Car Crash on Unreality TV