Former Strictly Come Dancing champion and The Wanted singer Jay McGuiness sensationally revealed on Friday that there are a lot more backstage romances on the hit Saturday night show than viewers would ever guess.
“There’s a bunch of stuff that goes on that you think, ‘Wow I’m really surprised that no one knows about this,’" he told the Loose Women panel, referring to these secret affairs. "So much goes on. It’s just a bunch of really mad people in close proximity that don’t normally hang out. You have like athletes and pop stars and newsreaders, all together."
© Photo: Getty ImagesJay was a member of Brit Award-nominated band The Wanted
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The 28-year old star, who lifted the iconic glitterball trophy back in 2015, was rumoured to be romantically linked to his professional dance partner Aliona Vilani. Most recently, rumours have swirled that an on-set romance blossomed between 2018 winner Stacey Dooley and her partner Kevin Clifton, with her ex-boyfriend and his ex-wives and sister all taking to social media to express their opinions about the gossip. On Friday, Stacey shared a photo of her and Kevin cuddled together on her Instagram stories, in what many fans are taking to be a confirmation of their romance.
READ MORE: Strictly's Stacey Dooley cuddles up to Kevin Clifton in NEW Instagram snap
© Photo: Getty ImagesJay and Aliona's chemistry impressed on the 2015 series of Strictly
Previous Strictly couples include actor Jimi Mistry and dancer Flavia Cacace, who married in 2013, rugby player Ben Cohen and Kristina Rihanoff, who got together in 2014 and had daughter Mila in 2016, and Countdown maths whiz Rachel Riley and her partner on and off the dancefloor, Pasha Kovalev.
Jay said that the close proximity and availability of champagne after the live show ends is probably a factor in couples growing closer, but he credits responsibility for a lot of the programme’s love matches to an unlikely source – the make-up artists! “The make-up women, they love a gossip! They’ll be saying, ‘Oh I think he likes you and ‘Oh I think she likes you.’ They stir it!”
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