Janette Manrara heard "whispers" from other 'Strictly Come Dancing' professionals that she wouldn't "do well" on the show.
Janette Manrara was made to think she would 'fail' on Strictly by other professional dancers
The 40-year-old dancer and host of sister show 'It Takes Two' has claimed she started doubting her abilities when she found out her colleagues and people "behind the scenes" at the scandal-hit BBC One show were allegedly gossiping about her lack of Ballroom Latin experience.
Recalling her early years on 'Strictly' at the launch of her book 'Tiny Dancer, Big World', she is quoted by Metro.co.uk as saying: "It was my first year on Strictly, I really wanted the job. I didn’t think I would ever get the job because I didn’t compete in Ballroom Latin. I didn’t have all the titles that the rest of the dancers had on the show. So when I actually got the job, I thought, 'My gosh, this is the best thing in the world.'"
Janette - who is married to 'Strictly' pro Aljaž Škorjanec - joined 'Strictly for series 11 in 2013 and was partnered with fashion designer Julien Macdonald.
She went on: "With Aljaž, at the time we were just dating. So I thought, 'Gosh, we can stay together. Of course, I’m gonna say yes.' Then when it started, Julien, who’s here, was my first partner ever on the show. He’s still my friend.’
“I always felt I knew I could dance and I knew I could teach, and I knew I could choreograph, I know I can. But when 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, 'She’s never going to do well. She’s going to be awful. She’s not even a Ballroom Latin dancer. How is she ever going to do this?'
‘And it was just like, I started believing it. I started believing 'I don’t know if I can do this'."
Janette says her now-spouse had a completely different start to his 'Strictly' career and admits she feared she would be dropped because she was "not good enough".
She said: "Aljaž coming on the same year as I did, being the hottest man on the show, and getting Abbey Clancy, who was phenomenal, she could do anything that woman. He had such a different trajectory than I did.
"It was hard, because I thought, I’m not good enough. I’m not going to survive this show. I can’t teach a celebrity, clearly I’m not a good enough choreographer. All those things really kicked in, and I just felt like I wasn’t enough, and I was ready for the next year to get the phone call that I’m not coming back, because I just assumed that was the case."
Janette stepped down as a dancer on the show – which has been under investigation amid accusations of bullying – in 2021 to replace Zoe Ball on BBC Two's 'It Takes Two', which she co-hosted with Rylan Clark before he was replaced by Fleur East.