Strictly's JB Gill reveals how dancer wife helped him win Christmas special

Singer JB Gill has will be on of the contestants taking part in Strictly Come Dancing 2024.

The JLS star has actually already lifted the Glitterball Trophy - when he won the Strictly Christmas special in 2012. The boyband star has admitted he does have dance experience from performing live with the boyband, although he insisted that ballroom styles do not come naturally to him.

But Gill is actually married to a professional dancer, who he has competed in a rival dance TV show with. And he admitted she helped train him to win Christmas Strictly.

Here's how Gill's background could well give him an advantage over some of his fellow contestants.

Boyband moves

Singer turned TV presenter Gill, 37, grew up in Croydon, South London and in 2007 joined a boyband called UFO, who changed their name to JLS - which stands for Jack the Lad Swing, a style of R&B music.

In 2008, JLS - made up of Gill, Aston Merrygold, Marvin Humes and Oritse Williams auditioned for ITV talent show The X Factor in 2008. They did no win, but were runners-up to Alexandra Burke. However then went on to have a successful chart career, with five Number 1 singles, including Everybody In Love and She Makes Me Wanna. They went their separate ways in 2013 but reunited for a tour in 2021.

Gill has admitted that he has dance experience from performing live with the band. But he added: "I do feel like a lot of the routines, a lot of the styles, especially the ballroom styles, are again very alien to me. I was not trained dancer. I didn't go to stage school growing up, so it's gonna be a learning curve as well."

Love on the dancefloor

Gill found love with backing dancer Chloe Tangney, who he began dating back in 2008. They married in 2014 in a wedding attended by his JLS bandmates and guests including This Morning presenter Rochelle Humes, who is married to JLS's Marvin. She shared on social media what a "beautiful day" it was.

In 2017 Gill and his wife took part in Dance, Dance Dance, an ITV show to rival Strictly, presented by former Strictly judge Alesha Dixon. Gill and professional dancer came third, failing to make the final. He reflected: "Actually, we did a dance show together a few years ago and it was interesting doing that show because she comes from that background where she's been trained to do what she's done and achieving some incredible things. And I was almost bringing up the rear,kind of dragging us along. But actually working with her was brilliant."

Farm life

Gill and his wife Chloe quit the city for country life, when they moved to liv on a farm in Kent with their two children; nine-year-old son Ace and five-year-old daughter Chiara.

Gill has said becoming a farmer after having a career in the music industry had been like going from "one extreme to another", but added that he is now "passionate" about agriculture. However Gill revealed when they bought the country house they had never planned to make it a working farm.

He said: "It was about 2012 when we bought our home. There are about 13 acres of land that came with it. That's small when it comes to farming! And whether it's an acre or a hundred acres, you have to maintain it. I didn't have plans to go into farming, but that's what the land had been used for my previous owners. The idea grew in popularity for me. We started with one pig named Ginger. We now have loads of pigs and turkeys. It's a huge passion of mine. I've been blessed for it to happen."

Since becoming a farmer Gill also landed the job of TV presenter, hosting CBeebies show Down On The Farm.

Strictly links

Gill has already won Strictly Come Dancing, sort of. He was voted the winner of the Strictly Christmas special in 2012, dancing the jive. He said: "I did the Christmas special, it was great fun, to be fair. And I did the jive and I feel like it was it was probably the most similar dance to things that I would have done in JLS." Gill was partnered with Ola Jordan in 2012, who is no longer a pro dancer on the show.

And his bandmate Aston Merrygold took part in the show in 2017, dancing with Janette Manrara and becoming the sixth celebrity to be eliminated. Gill said: "I told him a couple of days ago I was going to be doing the show and he just said, 'Yeah, you'll be fine.' But I'll definitely catch up with him and just say 'Is there anything that I should work on? Anything that I should focus on?' The boys have always been very supportive of anything I've done."

Dance advantage

While Gill insisted he is not a trained dancer, he did admit he will be taking extra advice from wife Chloe. He said: "She wants me to do well, and she's very much in my corner. I remember when I did the Christmas special, she was great in rehearsals because she was really championing me and helping me to work out little bits that I didn't find natural. It's good to have that support."

In 2023, soap star Adam Thomas was continually denying "fix claims" when he took part in Strictly, as his wife Caroline Daly is a professional dancer with her own school.

Strictly Come Dancing 2024 starts on Saturday 14 September on BBC One and iPlayer.