I was on Strictly Come Dancing and my professional | UK News

Jo Wood has opened up about working alongside Brendan Cole, revealing he was the best professional companion she might’ve hoped for. Jo, 70, carried out on Strictly Come Dancing in 2009, the same yr she divorced Rolling Stones member Ronnie Wood. The model was partnered with Australian dancer Brendan, 49, who had been a professional on the show since its inception in 2004. Despite Brendan having rocky relations with a quantity of his dance companions, the same could not be said about Jo.

Jo gushed: “I absolutely loved Strictly. I adore Brendan Cole. He is such a fantastic guy and he was very supportive of me.” The pair fashioned a close bond during her six weeks on the show as she declared: “Me and Brendan never fell out. Not at all. I adored him. We still talk even now.” Jo recalled a second when she turned annoyed after getting the steps improper, but Brendan remained supportive throughout, assured that she would get it proper in the end.

She said: “I once cried because I couldn’t remember the steps and he stood there looking at me and said, ‘No, you’re going to be able to do it! You’ve just got to keep doing it over and over again and it will stay in your memory.

“It was caught on digital camera while I was crying so possibly people thought we have been having an argument. But I never argued with Brendan, not once.”

The star added: “He was great to me. He always said I might do it. He’s a good man.”

Jo looks back on her Strictly experience with fondness and joy, but admits she wouldn’t have starred on the show if it wasn’t for her mum.

“I did not need to do it. But my mum told me I had to get on the market and do it because it might be great for me. So I listened to my mum and I went and did it,” she confessed.

The TV personality admitted appearing on the hit BBC programme was the perfect way to lift her spirits and gave her the confidence boost she needed at such a low point in her life.

Jo explained: “It got here at a excellent time. It was great for me because up until then I’d only been a spouse and a mom. I hadn’t labored since I was 22 and then I stepped into that. It was a great confidence enhance for me, I beloved it.”

Asked if she thinks the show needs a revamp after 21 years, Jo declared: “No. I suppose it is great. I’ve received no drawback with Strictly. I love to watch it.”

She noted how the show can help people in different ways, specifically mentioning Annabel Croft, who said that the show helped her cope with her grief following the death of her husband.

Jo added: “There’s certain to be people that cannot take the heat, but there’s certain to be people that discover it a implausible factor to do. No one is the same.”