james and ola

James and Ola Jordan settle debate on who baby Ella looks like 

Does Ella look more like her mum or dad?

TV & Film Editor
August 7, 2020

James and Ola Jordan have shared a new video of little Ella belly laughing at her dad's silly antics for their Strictly Parenting column with HELLO!. In the clip, the five-month-old collapses into giggles as James makes funny noises, and he and Ola open up about her big personality. "She's starting to get a proper laugh now," James says. "When she does it a lot it's hard to get it on video but it's a really full on laugh which is really cute." 

READ: Strictly's Ola Jordan enjoys sweet bonding moment with baby Ella

So what is she laughing about? "If I'm stupid or we dance," James explains, as Ola adds: "She goes quiet when I'm singing and she looks at me funny, then she laughs when I dance - I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing!" Teasing his wife, James says: "She doesn't remember how you used to dance! Now it's mum dancing!" Watch the adorable video here... 

WATCH: Ella Jordan is in hysterics thanks to her dad, James

While beautiful baby Ella has divided fans over whether she looks more like her mum and dad, James and Ola agree that they think she looks more like her mum. "I would say she looks more like Ola," James concludes. "Her eyes are very much like Ola's, her lips are like Ola's. Her feet are like mine!" 

Laughing, he adds: "Hopefully humour, wit and intelligence are more like me! I would say she looks more like Ola, and she's a very happy baby - which is definitely from my side of the family!" 

"Oi, stop it," Ola chides playfully. 

ella swimming

The pair proudly open up about Ella's happy temperament 

Although Ella loves a giggle, the former Strictly pros also reveal that she can get angry!

"We've noticed she definitely has a little temper, it's quite funny," James says. "She's started hitting things. The other day she had a rattle in her hand and she was smashing her toys... It's not often, we've only seen it a couple of times, but she has a temper! 99 per cent of the time she's such an adorable baby, we're very lucky!" 

While Ella is a very loving baby, James and Ola admit that her constant desire to be held by them is becoming a bit of an issue. "The biggest thing is that she doesn't want to be left alone which is getting tough, I've got to say," James explains. "Because of lockdown we've always picked her up and held her and let her sleep on us, because we've been at home and haven't been as busy as we would be usually. When you try to put her down she does get angry and scream the place down."

They are putting Ella upstairs for naps now, but it is proving tricky!

Ola adds: "We're trying to leave her to it but it's really hard." 

The pair were reassured about the situation by James' parents, as James explains: "As my mum and dad said, if you can [hold her] why not. She's only little, it's not going to do her that much harm, but you don't want them to get spoiled!"

James gave an update on how his father Allan, who was recently diagnosed with a brain tumour, has been doing since the diagnosis. "He's doing okay," James says bravely. "He's started his radiotherapy and chemotherapy on Monday. He seems to be, touch wood, dealing with it okay at the moment but it's only been three days.

"My mum says she can tell he's different, but he won't admit if he's finding it hard. He just says he's alright, which is a good thing because he's a very mentally strong person. He seems alright." 

James spoke about his dad Allan's treatment

Although the pair aren't planning to leave Ella anytime soon, Ola says that they have been visiting her sister so that Ella can get used to another person if they ever need a babysitter, saying: "I'm trying to get Ella used to my sister in case we start working a bit more, because if we need to go out, my sister is the first person I would ring. And it's going well, Ella loves her!" 

Ella has also recently realised that she doesn't need to wait for James and Ola to wake up properly, according to the pair.

MORE: Ola and James Jordan's baby daughter Ella makes the cutest ballerina in tutu

"What I've noticed is that at seven o'clock in the morning this week, no matter what we do, she wants to get up," James explains. "She wants to go downstairs and have food. Before, we could put a dummy in and get an extra hour of sleep, but now it's seven o'clock on the dot. We're not complaining because she does sleep really well, but now we're going downstairs with her." 

Ola adds: "Nine o'clock in the evening, she's asleep in bed, so I think most parents would take that!" 

Little Ella is growing up so quickly!

She continues: "Last night was the hardest so far. She didn't want to go down for some reason. Maybe she's more hungry, we had to give her more to go to sleep. She didn't want a dummy but if we give her a little more food, she'll feel soothed and go to sleep. She had a meltdown for about half an hour last night." 

READ: James and Ola Jordan reveal how baby Ella injured her dad

James adds: "We both tried. I went up, then Ola went up, then I went up. You don't want to talk to them too much, but it got to the point where she was really crying so I thought we should give her a bit more food. She needed that extra bit more of milk and she was fast asleep!"

Tune in next week for the latest updates on James and Ola's parenting column!

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