Strictly Come Dancing is just around the corner, and it won't be long before the pros are paired with their new celebrity partners so that rehearsals can kick start. And It Takes Two star Gethin Jones has revealed a big change the BBC One dance show have been making over the past few years in the dance studios to help do their bit for the environment. Talking to HELLO!, Gethin explained: "Strictly have got rid of plastic bottles for the past couple of years as obviously it's quite a sweaty place to be and you need to hydrate. But they all get a personalised water bottle now, Love Island have done it now too, it's almost like a big thing. Nobody is noticing the change either they are just getting on with it."
Strictly Come Dancing are doing their bit for the environment by banning plastic bottles
The 15 new celebrity contestants were revealed earlier in August and Gethin knows only too well how they are all feeling, having appeared on the show in 2007. The former Blue Peter presenter was reminiscing about his time on the show with his good friend Gemma Atkinson, who appeared on the 2017 series, where she went on to meet boyfriend Gorka Marquez. He said: "I went to see Gemma Atkinson and had a little cuddle with the baby for the first time and we were chatting about Strictly – I think it was the most exciting but nerve-wracking moment for me. You have been keeping it quiet for such a long time from even your friends and family because you are so scared about telling anyone, and then you suddenly do and then you are like 'who is my partner going to be?'"
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Gethin Jones knows only too well what the new Strictly stars will be feeling
He added: "I think for me, whoever you are teamed up with you are going to be living and breathing with them for the next maybe three months until Christmas, so you are going to want to know. You have a rough idea in your head who you hope to get, but you don’t necessarily know, and that moment when you meet your partner it's just so bizarre. You go into the dance studio for the first time, you blink and then it's Christmas. You feel like you have been in a bubble of makeup and Cuban heels. I guess that's where they are at the moment, I think they are shooting the promos at the moment so they will all be pretty terrified."
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The It Takes Two star has teamed up with Joanna Lumley for BRITA's new campaign
Gethin has a very busy few months ahead of him. Not only will he be back on It Takes Two in the upcoming weeks, but he is also currently travelling the country with BRITA to help educate people in changing their habits when it comes to drinking bottled water. Teaming up with Absolutely Fabulous star Joanna Lumley, Gethin is hoping that people will stop buying bottled water for the home to help the environment. He explained: "People probably think there are health benefits to drinking water out of the bottle but actually it's completely untrue. You can change the taste by getting it filtered simply and that's what BRITA do so well, it's as good as anything you can buy. It's a habit though."
The star added that he jumped at the chance of supporting the campaign. It's something I've unofficially been doing for about five or six years in terms of doing beach clean ups, whether that's on my own or whether it's organised, and now living near a beach it's upsetting me more and more seeing all the plastic waste around the place."
Gethin is working alongside BRITA on their 'Just Tap. Filtered' in a bid to convince the British public to ditch bottled water for good and opt for filtered tap water instead
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