Strictly's Shayne Ward's 'heartache' over 'challenging' time with wife six weeks after birth

Strictly Come Dancing star Shayne Ward has reflected on a difficult time in his family life when a new acting opportunity came around.

Just six weeks after he and his wife-to-be Sophie Austin welcomed their second born, son Reign, in 2022, the 40-year-old was offered the lead role in Channel 5’s The Good Ship Murder.

Recalling the scenario of Shayne dropping the news to her as she breastfed their son, she said: "Shayne comes in and says I‘ve got an audition, but don’t worry they don’t start filming until November – this was in the June.

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"And then he comes back in and says, ‘Oh no, sorry, it’s filming until November’. And I said, ‘Well when are you flying?’ And he said, ‘Next week!'."

Due to the shock of his sudden admission at first, Sophie admitted she didn't speak to him for 24 hours at first, before coming around to the idea.

"Then of course I realised it was an amazing opportunity, but having just had a baby, that was definitely the most challenging time," she told Brood magazine.

Sharing his thoughts about the situation, Shayne recalled, laughing: “For me, it was being on the receiving end of that! That was very challenging!

“No, but it was scary and obviously I was heartbroken as well, as for me going away and not seeing my daughter or my newborn son, it was very tough.

"Being in a country and not seeing them every day, as silly as it sounds I kept worrying that they might not remember me.”

The couple, who got engaged in 2017, reflected on their difficult time back in August, just weeks before he was announced as a contestant for this year's Strictly.

Being every inch the supportive partner, Sophie has been seen cheering on Shayne and his dance partner Nancy Xu from the audience during the live shows.

So far this series, the pair's highest score has been an impressive 35 out of 40 points. For his latest Rumba routine, he was awarded 30 points and received mixed reviews from the judges.

After being in the bottom two twice already, he will sure be hoping to avoid it again ahead of the Blackpool special next weekend.

Strictly Come Dancing: The Results air tonight at 7.20pm on BBC One.