When actress Tillie Amartey teamed up with professional dancer Neil Jones to take part in the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Day special, it wasn’t just a partnership made in dance heaven – it became a full-blown family affair when Neil’s 11-week-old daughter Havana got in on the fun, too.
“We’ve realised Havana can only settle down to sleep if we do our jive while holding her,” says Tillie as the pair tell us all about their fun-filled training sessions for Christmas Day’s dance spectacular, which sees the duo transform into Santa’s little helpers for an energetic festive jive.
“She could probably grace the ballroom and do it herself at this point!” jokes the 20-year-old actress and presenter.
“Any other dance and she’d cry, but when I held Havana and did our jive, she loved it. She’s definitely a Latin dancer,” adds proud dad Neil, 41, whose daughter with model Chyna Mills is certainly living up to her name – which is a tribute to the Cuban capital of dance.
The pair had lots of fun training, with Tillie even bringing Neil along to the set of BBC school drama Waterloo Road, in which she’s playing student Stace Neville from January.
“If I speak to the right people, he could make a cameo!” she smiles.
Both Tillie and Neil are looking forward to watching the show (which was pre-recorded earlier this month), when it airs on Christmas Day.
Tillie is spending 25 December surrounded by 20 of her family members at her aunt’s house.
“Our schedule is all factored around the Strictly Christmas special,” laughs Tillie. Meanwhile, Neil will be watching from his mum’s house, where he’s spending his first Christmas as a dad.
“We were going to go on holiday but we’re going to my mum’s house so Havana can be with her Nanny. She’s having a proper first Christmas with the tree, dinner… everything,” he says.
Baby Havana – who made her debut in HELLO! at two weeks old when her proud parents introduced her to the world in our pages – is growing fast. “She has this little giggle, she’s always smiling,” says Neil, who is besotted by his baby girl: “I look at her and think: ‘How did I create a baby that looks so beautiful?’”
Seeing the festivities through Havana’s eyes has been magical for the new parents.
“She loves colour,” smiles Neil. “She couldn’t stop looking at Dianne [Buswell]’s red hair when she met her. Havana is part of the Strictly family now – everyone wants to hold her whenever I bring her in.”
The Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special will air at 4.40pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on Christmas Day.