James Bye isn't worried about the 'Strictly Come Dancing' curse.
James Bye isn't worried about Strictly curse
The 38-year-old 'EastEnders' actor - who has been married to wife Victoria since 2012 - insists the show will not affect his marriage and his spouse actually encouraged him to take part in the series.
He told The Mirror: "It's not really come up for us. It's one of those things attached to the show but being a part of it, I genuinely don't see any of that.
"I'm a massive family man, and both Victoria and I pride ourselves on putting our family first at all times so before I even contemplated it I wanted to speak to her first."
And James and Victoria - who have children Edward, eight, Louis, six, and Hugo, three, together - are planning to renew their vows next year.
He said: "At the beginning of next year we are going to take the family out to where Victoria and I had our honeymoon and we are going to renew our vows on the beach in front of everybody."
James has been partnered with professional dancer Amy Dowden on the show and admitted there is "added pressure" on his 'Strictly Come Dancing' stint because the last three of his 'EastEnders' co-stars competing on the show have made the final.
The star - who plays Martin Fowler on the BBC One soap - isn't aiming to win the upcoming 20th series just yet, but admitted he has big shoes to fill on the dance floor after Rose Ayling-Ellis (Frankie Lewis) won last year's 'Strictly', and Maisie Smith (Tiffany Butcher) and Emma Barton (Honey Mitchell) reached the final in the 18th and 17th series respectively.
Asked if he has his eye on winning the Glitterball trophy, he said: "At the moment, not really. I'm just in it to have as much fun as possible.
"I’d love to get to Blackpool, then you can say you really gave it a good go. There is also the added pressure that the last three people from EastEnders have been in the final!"