Janette Manrara and her husband Aljaz Skorjanec have often spoken about their three beautiful wedding celebrations, but they hadn't revealed the tear-jerking moment with the It Takes Two star's family – until now.
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The Strictly Come Dancing professionals made a joint appearance on series two of Nick Grimshaw and Angela Hartnett Dish podcast, where they shared new details about her dad's special role at their "extra emotional" wedding reception. Janette looked stunning in a Julien MacDonald bridal gown with a strapless neckline and an embellished train, which she said offered the perfect excuse for the couple to do a low-key first dance.
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"They [wedding guests] were expecting Dirty Dancing lifts and you know. But that’s work and this is our wedding, not a gig," Aljaz joked, and his wife added: "I couldn’t move in my dress, my dress was like, so tight.
"Julien MacDonald did my dress, we danced together on Strictly, he was my first ever partner on Strictly. We’ve stayed friends ever since and when we got married that was his gift to me, it was amazing.
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Janette wore a stunning Julien MacDonald bridal gown which she revealed she could "barely move in"
"But the dance itself was extra emotional because my dad sings, and my dad sang our song, so he was singing our first dance song and I'm dancing my first dance with my husband, in a dress I can barely move in, the emotions were high, so I think the step, tap, side to side was the one."
The couple began their wedding celebrations on 15 July 2017 when they exchanged vows in front of their fellow Strictly stars Oti Mabuse, Katya Jones, Anton du Beke and more. They went on to have another two ceremonies in Slovenia and Miami, Florida over the course of three weeks, which Janette previously described as "perfectly imperfect."
She opened up about their emotional first dance as husband and wife
Their big day came seven years after they first met when Janette flew to London to perform alongside Aljaz in Burn The Floor. There was an instant attraction, with Janette saying her now-husband looked like Prince Charming while Aljaz joked he was ready to propose after just five hours.
Janette also credited Strictly for helping them build a relationship, as the couple both lived in previous countries in the past. She explained: "Strictly was a blessing, we were able to stay together. Because I was living in LA at the time, and he was obviously still in Slovenia, and the show was about to end, and we were both like, 'Okay now what?'
"You know, I’m going to have to go back to work in LA, he’s going to have to go back to Slovenia, we’re going to try the long-distance thing but that is a massive distance. When we both got Strictly, that's when we were like, 'Oh my god, it worked!'"
Dish, hosted by Nick Grimshaw and Angela Hartnett, is available on all podcast providers now.
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