Jason Bell has opened up about Girls Aloud singer Nadine Coyle's reaction to him joining Strictly Come Dancing. The former NFL player, who welcomed a daughter with Nadine in 2014, revealed that star just "looked at him" for a moment when he broke the news.
After explaining that Nadine was the first person he told, Jason said: "She just kind of looked at me for a minute. She's not very quick to tell you her opinion, she listens to all the facts.
Former NFL player Jason Bell is joining Strictly!
"So when I told her, she just was like, 'Are you sure your back can do it?' I talk to her all the time about preparing for dance routines and stuff like that, and how long does it take and what do you need to do. She's an expert, so I'm lucky because of that."
Jason and Nadine dated briefly back in 2008 and even got engaged, however the couple soon broke it off. The pair then reunited in 2013, a year before welcoming their daughter Anaìya.
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Jason revealed Nadine's reaction to him joining the show
The sportsman, who had to retire from American football in 2008 after back surgery, also gushed about watching the show with his daughter, and revealed he's a big fan of last year's winner, Kelvin Fletcher.
"I love Ore [Oduba] who won. I was watching with my daughter who was really young then. Watching him, he looked like he was having so much fun he was just flying all over the place.
"Also Kelvin who won last year. When I watched him last he looked like he was in crazy shape, the energy, he looked really athletic out there and I thought that was super cool."
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Jason and Nadine have one daughter together
On why he wanted to join the BBC ballroom competition, Jason told the BBC: "I wanted to take part because it made me nervous.
"At some point, I've always challenged myself - sports has forced that - but when I retired and went off and did other ventures, everything I was scared of, I took that challenge on and I've learned something from it. I've learned about myself and how I operate."
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