The auntie who tried to wreck my dream date
AT The beginning of 2015, my boyfriend Damon Scott and I settled into our new house in the countryside and for a while it was all going well. But after a few months things began to go wrong.
I was ridiculously busy while he was getting work less frequently.
he had made a steady career out of his puppet act with Bubbles the monkey, made famous by Britain’s Got Talent, but bookings had slowed, and it put pressure on us as a couple.
The game changer was the day I found out my father had died, just before Christmas that year, and he didn’t offer support or comfort. I began to think: ‘What’s this about? This is no relationship at all.’
Six weeks later, in February 2016, I was winding up the Strictly tour at Wembley with the usual wrap party and, although things were tense between us, I was thrilled when Damon decided to come with his family. Unfortunately, the night ended in a huge argument.
The really sad thing was that when he left he took both our Cavalier King Charles Spaniels — his dog Sophie and our little pup Charlie, who we called Charlie Revel.
To add insult to injury, he later renamed Charlie after his new boyfriend. I do miss the pitter-patter of tiny paws but as I am working so often I could not have cared for them properly so not having to worry about a dog is a blessing in disguise.
I wasn’t prepared for what happened next, though. Three months after the split I was on a cruise and sightseeing in Barcelona when I walked past a news stand to see Damon and I splashed across one of the papers. he had sold our story and for what? A bit of extra cash.
Still, I wasn’t ready to give up on love yet, so I turned my attention to dating websites. I worry about the people I meet going public with every detail, so I get everyone to sign confidentiality agreements now. And I mean everyone in my life — from the builders to my lovers — signs them, so I have exacting working versions for employees, and more userfriendly ones for my friends.
If I go on a date, I get them to sign the agreement, and if they won’t, I don’t date them. If they can’t cope with that, they’ll never cope with my life. So far, Damon was the only one who wouldn’t sign it. And look what he did.
After three dates on Match.com I wasn’t meeting the man of my dreams, so I tried Grindr but everyone on there was far too young, between 18 and 25. They’re all looking for sex and/or a celebrity or sugar daddy. People are often surprised that I
have put my full name up on sites like that. But I have nothing to hide or be ashamed of. If it’s good enough for the person next door, it’s good enough for me.
Just because I’m a dance show judge, I don’t see why I can’t be a human being and live my life the way I want to. As long as you’re not doing nasty things on there, like trolling people, why not?
I go to a lot of red-carpet events and showbiz parties, but everyone is so busy being their celebrity self that you don’t even meet anyone in the business properly. I don’t want to be with a celebrity. I want to live as normal a life as I can, out of the spotlight.
Finally, I went on Tinder, after my niece met her Prince Charming there. To my surprise, I found I really liked talking to the people there because it seemed to cast a wider net, in terms of age and background. Then, while on the Strictly tour earlier this year, I noticed a horticulturalist called Jonathan who looked very attractive.
The profile picture was of a dark-haired, gorgeous-looking lad sitting on a kid’s tractor laughing and having fun. In all his photos he was laughing or smiling in a natural way. They were real, honest pictures that looked like they had captured a moment on camera, rather than a manufactured pose.
So I swiped right and we started talking. Jonathan lived in Leicester and I was in Nottingham, 45 minutes away. I only had an hour before I had to go off for my matinee, so I suggested brunch the next day. ‘Yes, I’m in,’ he replied. He told me he would drive from Leicester, but his car’s engine had blown up the day before, so he had asked his auntie to drive him to Nottingham and she wasn’t impressed.
‘You’re not really going on a date with that Craig Revel Horwood?’ she said. ‘He’s nasty. He’s a horrible, horrible person.’ She tried to convince him not to meet me.
But Jonathan is not a Strictly fan, so he had no preconceived ideas of me. He’s a bookworm and a horticulturist who trained at Kew Gardens, and he doesn’t watch many TV shows.
He is very intelligent and he’d rather read a good book, which I love. But Jonathan decided to take a chance on going through with the date — and luckily for me, his auntie reluctantly agreed to bring him.
Jonathan and I got on like a house on fire. There were no nerves or awkwardness. It was perfect, as if we’d known each other for years. I was smitten.
Taking a huge gamble, I asked him afterwards if he was brave enough to stay for a weekend. That was seven months ago. We’ve been together ever since.
He is a lovely, genuine, gorgeous person and I feel very lucky indeed.