James and Ola Jordan have been spending all of their time performing in Jack and the Beanstalk at the moment, and opened up about the panto! James said: "We're getting great reviews! It's quite tiring, I can't imagine how Ola feels but it's good fun at the same time!" Ola added: "I'm doing well! Everything's going fine so it's all good." Of course, the couple are also expecting their first child together in 2020, and revealed that they have already discussed baby names, with Ola explaining: "We've got a few, we've got an idea but it's still really hard to go, 'Right, that's the name.'" James joked: "It makes you realise how many people you don't particularly like! Like, 'You can't call them that, I used to hate that person at school!'" Despite their busy schedule, there was no way the pair were going to miss the Strictly Come Dancing final! Find out what they had to say about it here...
James: I thought it was a really nice final. A good mix of traditional with Anton, and then you had the more contemporary with Karim, and then Kelvin was the entertainer! It was a really good mix in the final. The competition was a lot closer than I expected, as in, I thought Kelvin would walk away with it. I know he did public vote-wise and I understand why he won, but I felt that everyone did a fantastic job in the final.
Ola: I thought Karim was amazing. I really loved his show dance and I thought his Jive was exceptional. They were both really amazing, I really loved it.
James: I'm still not keen on contemporary though. For me, Strictly is supposed to be Ballroom and Latin, so you've done Ballroom and Latin the whole series, and then you do contemporary. Did I like it? Yes I enjoyed it. But a show dance, in our world, is full of lifts and tricks and mixes of different styles of dance, the show dances still haven't blown me away. The final overall I thought was exceptional, I knew Kelvin was going to win! I thought Karim couldn't have done anything more, as the judges said. He danced his heart out, as did Emma. I thought Emma and Anton were much better than I expected them to be. Their show dance was really enjoyable.
Ola: To be honest with you, any of them winning would have been right in some respect. A lot of people wanted Anton and Emma to win, and a lot of people wanted Karim to win. Any of them would have been good.
READ: Strictly star Oti Mabuse had very special family member waiting for her after winning the show
James: I'm pleased that Kelvin won. I just feel that it's not just about who is the best dancer, if it was just about that you could have just said in week one, 'Karim has won.' It's an entertainment show, it's not a proper competition because otherwise we'd have proper judges, wouldn't we? [Laughs].
Ola: They did such a good job for saying there is so much pressure during the final.
James: Massive pressure. I know that they have done two of the routines before, so that helps a lot because you're going back and remembering the routines, but you still need to learn the show dance. To be honest, I would say the semi-final is probably more difficult than the final. Because in the semi-final you need to learn two new dances. But it is massive pressure that you have three dances, you have a chance at winning, you just don't want to make any big mistakes and that's all you can do. They all went out there and I believe they all did the best they possibly could, there were no major mistakes, I thought it was a brilliant final. And then it's down to the public, the public made their decision and I feel like it was the right decision. It was a really good to watch.
Ola: Yes I agree. Kelvin was brilliant, so for me he was still a winner but Karim has a special place in my heart, he was so amazing. There were negative comments about him, like people weren't warming to him. It's not about warming to someone, it's about liking the dances, but people vote for who they want to vote for.
James: Yeah, I thought he seemed like a lovely young man and he was an exceptional dancer. Every year Strictly have people who are trained dancers and there were a lot of people on the show this year who were trained dancers, but because he was the most talented he got the most flack, which is a little bit unfair I suppose. Because he was talented, that was his downfall. His talent was what made him not win the show. I remember Emma said back in 2009 something like, 'Oh I wouldn't be able to do Strictly because it would be an unfair advantage,' because she's had dance training, loads of them have. That's why I was a big supporter of Chris Ramsey. Chris is what Strictly is about. I would have liked to have seen Chris in the final.
Ola: But he wasn't good enough to have been in the final! Those three were better off being in the final than Chris.
James: Yeah, true. You're right Ola, you're right.
Ola: I'm always right! [Laughs]. And what did you think of the judges' scores? People on Twitter weren't happy that Anton and Emma didn't get 40.
READ: Take a peek inside Strictly winner Kelvin Fletcher's family home
James: I do think Anton and Emma deserved four tens you know. Their Charleston, for me, deserved four tens. Craig said, 'You walked down the steps at different times,' for heavens sake mate, it's the final! You have no say in the result! It's the public, you have no say! They deserved tens. I couldn't stop watching Anton, he was so good. I'm going to put this out there: Anton is as good now as he was the first year of Strictly. I don't know what he's eating, but he's like the bionic man!
Ola: He's a machine that man, he did so well in the final.
James: If it's his last year as a dancer he needs to be given a presenting role, or put on the judging panel, he needs to be promoted because people love him.
Ola: And I hope if it is his last year, it's his decision.
James: I believe if he wants to come back, he has more right than anybody on that show because he was there from day one. I think he did a better job this year than he has done any other year. As for Oti, I think she's amazing, but then again it does depend on which celebrity dance partner you get. If you keep getting people who can't dance, people are going to say, 'Oh they're not very good,' but if you get brilliant people like Kelvin, you're going to look good aren't you? It's not difficult to make someone like Kelvin look great. Not taking anything away from Oti at all, she did a fantastic job, but if you get someone with potential, dance training and the drive and determination, they're going to do well. All the pros are brilliant on that show, it just depends on who you get. She was lucky to get Kelvin after Jamie dropped out. Speaking of, I think it would be nice if Jamie could do it next season. It's such a shame the way that he had to leave through injury. It's not like he's had a massive advantage, it would be nice to see him back. It's good to see how supportive he was at Kelvin as well. He seems like a nice young man to be honest so I think he'd be good for the show next year. By the way, can I just say that it's been ten years since Ola won it this year!
Ola: It's been ten years, I can't believe it! I still speak to Chris all the time, I love that man, the whole thing is just a great memory. Ten years ago! I get messages like, 'Oh my God, my daughter loved you when she was four and now she's 14.'
James: You were young and fit!
Ola: I was young and fit and it was amazing! [Laughs]. Yeah I have great memories from that time, it was the best.
James: So now it's all over, what will we be watching next Ola?
Ola: Oh, Love Island's coming back! We can be just two old people sitting back watching Love Island! But will Caroline be back?
James: I don't know! I love Caroline. Is she going to get sacked for that? Presenters have done worse than that and they're still on TV! But if she is gone they should replace her with someone who has been in a relationship for more than six months! Oh! I've been in a relationship for 20 years! I could do it very easily!
Ola: I could go there with my big stomach if they want me!
