Debbie McGee was a certain favourite on last year's Strictly Come Dancing, and now she's excited fans with another announcement regarding the show - this time, concerning her magician nephew James Phelan. Taking to Twitter to share the news, she revealed that James will be working with Strictly professionals Neil and Katya Jones on a new TV show! "Morning all. Strictly's @Mrs_katjones @Mr_NJones are recording with my Nephew in his first TV show filmed at Leatherhead Theatre Surrey Tuesday there are still some tickets left. Lots of chat and magic," she said.
Debbie has revealed she has another connection to Strictly through her nephew, James
She also retweeted James' original tweet about the show, writing: "I can't wait either. So proud of you my lovely Nephew @phelanmagician You will be AMAZING Love Auntie Dxxx." The magician, who is following in the footsteps of late uncle Paul Daniels, was set to appear on the 2016 series of Britain's Got Talent, but his audition was cut from the show - despite him making it through and Amanda Holden hailing his act as "extraordinary".
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He told The Sun at the time: "The reason I was ever doing magic was because of my uncle. I wanted to take the opportunity of a live performance to do something that I think he would look down on me and enjoy and be proud of me for and I’m disappointed I’m not going to get that opportunity.
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"The whole thing is just so painful as the last conversation I had with Uncle Paul was us talking about Britain’s Got Talent," he continued. "It was when he was in hospital and it was just me, him and my Auntie sitting round the bed. My Auntie was telling him 'James is doing really well with his magic'. We knew how poorly he was but he didn’t understand but my Auntie told him: 'When it’s on TV we’re all going to have to watch it'."
Debbie went on to compete in the 2017 series of Strictly with professional partner Giovanni Pernice, making it all the way to the final with her incredible routines. She told The Express how dancing helped her cope with the loss of Paul, revealing she thought of him whenever she needed a confidence boost. "When I’m feeling insecure I always think of Paul and say, 'Come on darling, give me some of your confidence', because he was totally confident," she said at the time.