THE girlfriend of Strictly star Nicola Adams has rubbished suggestions they will fall victim to the show’s notorious curse. Beauty blogger Ella Baig insists they will not split — despite Nicola telling us today that she finds dance partner Katya Jones “smoking hot”. Ella, 22, is firmly behind the Olympic boxing champ, 37, as she […]
THE girlfriend of Strictly star Nicola Adams has rubbished suggestions they will fall victim to the show’s notorious curse.
Beauty blogger Ella Baig insists they will not split — despite Nicola telling us today that she finds dance partner Katya Jones “smoking hot”.
Ella, 22, is firmly behind the Olympic boxing champ, 37, as she makes history with Strictly’s first same-sex partnership.
She told the Sun on Sunday: “I’m not worried about the curse. Nicki and me are best friends so I don’t really see anyone as competition and she doesn’t either.
“We did have a conversation about the ‘curse,’ and we agreed I would meet her dance partner so there are no hard feelings or jealousy there. Once you find someone you genuinely get on with you can walk past the most attractive person in the world and you don’t even know they are there.
“The grass is never greener on the other side and me and Nicki have a lot of history together, so I don’t think anyone is going to steal her off me. I can’t see an issue with my partner being surrounded by attractive female dancers.
“It’s the same when she goes to work on TV and is surrounded by attractive celebrities, or when I model with other girls.
“Temptation is always there but if you’re committed to someone, you’re committed to someone — there’s no such thing as temptation when you’re in love.”
Viewers saw Nicola perform last night with Russian pro Katya, 31.
The double gold medallist told The Sun on Sunday in an exclusive interview: “Katya’s smoking hot, but Ella and I are so strong we will never be a victim of the Strictly curse.
“I’m excited to be partnered with her — and when I saw her we hugged straight away. It was amazing. She’s the best dancer I could have got. She’s competitive, she’s full of energy — it’s perfect.
“She’s a former champion. She’s really creative and is always thinking about new things to try.
“Katya was super excited to be partnered with me. There’s no restrictions for us.”
Katya, at the time married to fellow pro Neil Jones, 38, was caught kissing dance partner Seann Walsh in 2018.
She is now single and focused on winning again after her victory in 2017.
She said: “I think the beauty of this partnership is that it’s never been done on Strictly so basically we’re free to do what we want. There’s not really set rules so it’s gonna be really interesting. I’m going to play around with it and I cannot wait.”
Nicola has already introduced Katya to her girlfriend.
She said: “Ella really liked her and was so excited about us dancing together.
“Ella’s really supportive of me doing the show. The plan was for me to practise at home with her too, but I don’t think I’ll be able to remember the moves she’s supposed to do as well as mine, so it might be a bit confusing and make it even more complicated.
“She thinks it’s great I’m taking on a new challenge. She likes to see me doing things I enjoy, especially as this is more fun than boxing.”
Katya previously won with Holby City star Joe McFadden, 45, and turned bumbling politician Ed Balls, 53, into a Strictly sensation.
Nicola said: “She’s going to show me really hard dances. She’s been telling me we’re going to do lifts at some point, too. Not just yet in the first dance, as it’s a bit early but definitely soon. She told me she can do lifts, so I should be able to.
“She reassured me that as long as I get the technique right it’s not so much of a struggle.”
Nicola, who retired as a boxer last year over fears she could lose her sight, went on: “I’ll do whatever Katya says. I’ll put in the hours, I love the pressure.
“Katya has been helping me to understand the structure of the dancing. She has been telling me to hold my chest up and change my posture because in boxing I was always hunched over. My boxing coaches were always shouting at me, yelling at me to run around the track faster, so if Katya shouts at me I can take it.”
However, Nicola draws the line at wearing dresses.
She said: “I don’t like wearing them. I told the costume department. I’ll go for a tailored suit and shirt.”
Nicola, who came out aged 13, hopes to inspire youngsters grappling with their own sexuality.
She said: “It’s really exciting for Strictly fans to be seeing two women dancing together. It’s about time they showed some diversity. It shouldn’t be a big deal but it is.
“I want young kids watching the show to think, ‘Oh, wow, that could be me one day’. When I was growing up there were no role models on TV so I wouldn’t have known it was even an option for me.”
Her mum, Dee, is also excited about Nicola taking part.
She worked in two jobs to support Nicola and her brother after leaving their violent dad.
She is in remission from breast cancer but is unlikely to travel from Leeds to watch her amid the Covid pandemic.
Nicola said: “My mum is really proud and excited but she’s had underlying health conditions so I don’t think she’ll be able to come and watch. We’ll see.
Nicola also shrugs off the inevitable hateful comments from trolls.
She said: “You can never please everybody. You’re always going to get one who doesn’t like what you’re doing. I want to help young people who aren’t as strong-minded not to get upset.
“I hope in a few years it will be a normal thing to have same-sex pairings on Strictly.”
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