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Exclusive: HRVY recalls brutal backstage moment with dance partner Janette Manrara on Strictly

The singer spoke to HELLO! about this year's series and his time in the ballroom

Senior Features Writer
October 17, 2022

HRVY has revealed a funny but brutal backstage moment from his time on Strictly Come Dancing with his then-professional dance partner Janette Manrara.

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The singer, who appeared on the BBC show in 2020, was chatting to HELLO! as part of our Strictly Insider series when he revealed a funny but tense moment between the pair when their Rumba didn't quite go to plan!

WATCH: HRVY chats to HELLO! about all things Strictly

"I did shockingly at that one, I think got sixes! I remember Janette being really annoyed at me because it was the semi-finals," he laughed. "But we did it tactically because after the Rumba, I was closing the show with a Charleston and I said to her: 'We're going to flop this one [Rumba] but we'll look pretty doing it, and then I'll come back and we'll smash this Charleston don't worry about it.'"

But it seems Janette, ever the professional, wanted HRVY to give it his all. The singer continued: "And she was like, 'No! You're going to do really well in this Rumba'.

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© Photo: BBC

HRVY made it to the final of Strictly in 2020 alongside Janette Manrara

"Then we got out there, it wasn't very good and then she came off and she wouldn't talk to me! And she said, 'We better be good at this Charleston.' And I said, 'Listen we're closing the show, we're going to be alright.' We then made it to the final!"

HRVY also opened up about his thoughts on week four of Strictly, which saw Matt Goss and Nadiya Bychkova wave goodbye to the show after facing the dance-off against Kym Marsh and Graziano Di Prima.

© Photo: BBC

HRVY said Matt Goss had more to give on the show

"I actually really liked Matt, I think he came across more shy towards the beginning and I feel like he had more to give," HRVY explained.

"I've been watching a lot online and seeing stuff on Twitter and I think he had a really good reaction when he left I saw people saying he could have grown more. So I feel like maybe it wasn't his time to go, he was finding his feet. But someone has to go, so it is what it is. But he came across really well."

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