Janette Manrara, 40, is "adamant" about sticking to a relatable new parenting rule with her one-year-old daughter Lyra, whom she shares with her husband and fellow Strictly star, Aljaž Škorjanec.
"I'm adamant that I put my phone away around her," the It Takes Two host said during a Q&A while celebrating the launch of her new book, Tiny Dancer, Big World. "It's dangerous! For me, that's a big one because I live on my phone - emails, Instagram, my friends, everything is FaceTime.
© Instagram"I'm trying to get her outside," the doting mother continued at an exclusive wellness event attended by HELLO!. "If I'm home with her, I really try and put the phone away and just be with her. I try not to get her to watch too much telly - being active and engaging in the world is important."
This was not the only confession the dancer, choreographer, TV presenter, and now author made about raising her one-year-old daughter.
© InstagramLearning from her own life lessons
Janette also revealed that she is raising Lyra in a way that is informed by her own life lessons.
© Instagram"I think the biggest thing is to not be afraid to make mistakes," the Morning Live star said. "I think we're so scared to get it wrong, I know I was as a little girl. I put a lot of pressure on myself and I wanted to get that full scholarship and get into that dance school or get the audition. It's hard when you're constantly applying that pressure of 'don't muck it up'.
© Instagram"Even me as a mum, I'm like, 'It's okay, I'm not going to get it right all of the time and when [Lyra is] growing up, she's going to hit 40 walls on the way and that's okay'," Janette continued.
© Instagram"I don't want her to feel that she needs to be perfect, or that she needs to be a type of woman or a type of person. I just want her to be and experience life and go grow up in a world that makes her feel like everything is okay, however she wants to explore that."
Challenging her inner critic
The dancer is determined to parent Lyra so she feels she can work with her inner critic and not be hindered by it. Janette revealed to her guests that she struggled personally with putting pressure on herself during her first season of Strictly in 2013.
© David Fisher/ShutterstockJanette bravely admitted that she struggled with her inner critic telling her she wasn't good enough having not had the same ballroom and Latin training as her fellow pros.
"You get put on that level of exposure with everyone waiting for you to fail because I had heard whispers from other professionals and other people behind the scenes saying, 'She's never going to do well, she's going to be awful' and I started believing it."
© GettyThe unapologetically honest star added that having been in the dance-off several times during her first year on Strictly while Aljaž, who she was living with by this time, was "flying high" with his celebrity partner Abbey Clancy was "hard".
© GettyNowadays, Janette challenges her inner critic and channels it into a greater determination to achieve her goal, while being kinder to herself along the way.
A special launch day
© Peter-Eden MoranHELLO! got to experience first-hand what that looked like at her latest event at Pavilion Club, Knightsbridge, which was broken into the four pillars that punctuate Janette's book - acceptance, reflection, the work, and discovery.
© Peter-Eden MoranGuests enjoyed a yoga and sound bath session led by Rose Wild, having fittingly kicked off the day with a spot of salsa.
© Katie DalyDISCOVER: Janette Manrara's daughter is her exact double in beautiful photos
Janette's parenting confessions came as part of the discovery portion of the day, with the infectiously warm dancer taking part in a Q&A mediated by executive coach and host of Enough the Podcast, Dr Mandy Lehto.
Tiny Dancer, Big World by Janette Manrara is out now, published by William Collins.
