Sunday People

Rose blossoms on dance floor

Mcfly guy Tom dreams of matching his wife’s success

- By Katie Begley

POP star Tom Fletcher is on a mission to become TV royalty, like his wife, best friend and Mcfly bandmates.

When he leaves for his Strictly training each morning, Tom walks past the crown and sceptre his wife Giovanna,

36, won on I’m A Celebrity… last year.

And to add to the pressure, Tom knows that in 2011, Mcfly guys

Harry Judd, 35, lifted the

Strictly trophy and Dougie Poynter, 33, won I’m A

BOOKIES are tipping deaf actress Rose Ayling-ellis and her partner Giovanni Pernice to lift the Glitterbal­l trophy.

The Eastenders star, 26, who last night danced a Viennese Waltz to Fallin’ by Alicia Keys, has attracted an extra 26,769 followers on Instagram – the highest of all this year’s Strictly contestant­s.

And 31-year-old Giovanni has the highest new follower growth among the pro dancers, with 18,907 extra fans.

Bookmaker Ladbrokes has tipped the couple to win the BBC series with odds of just 11/10.

Spokesman Alex Apati said: “Giovanni and Rose have an amazing relationsh­ip on the dance floor. The latest odds suggest it’ll take something pretty spectacula­r to stop the pair from taking this year’s Glitterbal­l trophy.”

Celeb. To cap it all, his best pal – singer Matt Willis, 38 – was named king of the jungle in 2006. Tom, who yesterday shared a sweet video of himself salsa-ing round his kitchen with wife Gio, said: “They’re all very talented and I guess it adds a little bit of pressure.

“I feel like that just makes them all even more supportive of me because they’ve all had their own experience of being in a show like this.” Tom and his pro partner Amy Dowden last night danced the Salsa to Harry Styles’ Watermelon Sugar.

Earlier in the series, the pair had to miss a week after testing positive for Covid so are relishing every moment they have on the BBC show.

Tom said: “I don’t want to look so far ahead that I miss what’s happening now. It’s so much fun. I love it.”

Giovanna has been cheering Tom on from the Strictly sidelines but his three sons – Buzz, seven, Buddy, five, and three-year-old Max – are why he signed up for the show. “They love it so much,” Tom said. “They’ve been pretending to be the judges and give us their scores. A million points the other day… I’ll take that.”

Tom was just 10 when he landed the main role in a West End production of Oliver! and Mcfly has been going since 2003, but he admitted feeling nervous on Strictly.

He said: “You wait all week for one minute thirty, that’s it, when I’m used to being on stage for 90 minutes.

“You might mess up one bit of a set and that’s fine, you’re still having a great show. But knowing that you get one chance to do that dance right… it’s a lot of pressure.”

So far this series, the scores have been high and the leaderboar­d is changing from week to week.

Tom said: “I had a bit of a wobble in rehearsals the other day. Afterwards, you think, ‘I wish I’d just picked myself up quicker and got back to focusing’.

“No matter how far I go in this competitio­n, I’m already really not looking forward to it being over. It’s going to be so hard. I’m loving every second.”

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 ?? ?? SIZZLING: AJ and Kai’s Tango was hot stuff
CELEB QUEEN: Gio is crowned
FUN: John and Johannes’ Charleston
MAGICAL: Rose and Giovanni
IN STEP: Tom and wife Gio practise routine
SIZZLING: AJ and Kai’s Tango was hot stuff CELEB QUEEN: Gio is crowned FUN: John and Johannes’ Charleston MAGICAL: Rose and Giovanni IN STEP: Tom and wife Gio practise routine

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