Strictly's JB Gill reveals how his wife, a dancer, helped him win the Christmas special

JB Gill has announced that he will be one of the contestants of Strictly Come Dancing 2024.

The JLS star has actually won the Glitterball Trophy before – when he won the Strictly Christmas special in 2012. The boyband star has admitted he has dancing experience from performing live with the boyband, but stressed that ballroom dancing is not in his blood.

But Gill is actually married to a professional dancer with whom he competed on a rival TV dance show, and he admitted she helped him train to win Christmas Strictly.

Here's why Gill's background could give him an edge over some of his competitors.

Boyband moves

Singer and TV presenter Gill, 37, grew up in Croydon, south London, and joined a boy band called UFO in 2007, which changed its name to JLS – which stands for Jack the Lad Swing, a type of R&B music.

In 2008, JLS – consisting of Gill, Aston Merrygold, Marvin Humes and Oritse Williams – auditioned for ITV talent show The X Factor. They did not win, but came runners-up behind Alexandra Burke. However, they went on to have a successful chart career with five number one singles, including Everybody In Love and She Makes Me Wanna. They went their separate ways in 2013, but reunited for a tour in 2021.

Gill has admitted he has dance experience from performing live with the band. But he added: “I feel like a lot of the routines, a lot of the styles, particularly the ballroom dancing styles, are again very foreign to me. I'm not a trained dancer. I didn't go to drama school growing up, so it's going to be a learning process as well.”

Love on the dance floor

Gill found love with backing dancer Chloe Tangney, who he has been dating since 2008. They married in 2014 in a wedding attended by his JLS bandmates and guests, including This Morning presenter Rochelle Humes, who is married to JLS' Marvin, who shared on social media what a “gorgeous day” it was.

In 2017, Gill and his wife took part in Dance, Dance Dance, an ITV competition show with Strictly hosted by former Strictly judge Alesha Dixon. Gill and the professional dancer came third and didn't make it to the final. He recalled: “We actually did a dance show together a couple of years ago and it was interesting to do that show because she comes from this background where she's been trained for what she's done and achieved incredible things. And I was almost at the bottom of the list and kind of dragged us along. But actually, working with her was brilliant.”

Farm life

Gill and his wife Chloe left the city for country life when they moved to a farm in Kent with their two children, nine-year-old son Ace and five-year-old daughter Chiara.

Gill said becoming a farmer after a career in the music industry was like going from “one extreme to the other” for him, but added that he was now “passionate” about farming. Gill revealed, however, that when they bought the country house, they never planned to turn it into a farm.

He said, “It was around 2012 when we bought our house. It came with about 13 acres of land. That's not much when you're talking about farming! And whether it's one acre or a hundred acres, you have to take care of it. I had no plans to get into farming, but the land was used for that by my previous owners. The idea grew in popularity with me. We started with one pig named Ginger. Now we have loads of pigs and turkeys. It's a huge passion of mine. I'm blessed that it happened.”

Since becoming a farmer, Gill has also gotten a job as a television presenter, hosting the CBeebies show Down On The Farm.

Strictly Left

Gill has won Strictly Come Dancing before, sort of. He was voted winner of the Strictly Christmas Special in 2012 and danced the jive. He said: “I did the Christmas special, it was really fun to be honest. And I danced the jive and I think that was probably the most similar dance to the dances I would have done on JLS.” Gill was partnered with Ola Jordan in 2012, who no longer performs as a professional dancer on the show.

And his bandmate Aston Merrygold took part in the show in 2017, dancing with Janette Manrara and becoming the sixth celebrity to be eliminated. Gill said: “I told him a couple of days ago that I was going to do the show and he was like, 'Yeah, it'll be OK.' But I'll definitely get in touch with him and ask him, 'Is there anything I should be working on? Anything I should be focusing on?' The guys have always been really supportive of everything I've done.”

Dance advantage

While stressing that he is not a trained dancer, Gill admitted that he will also seek advice from his wife Chloe. He said: “She wants me to do well and she's totally behind me. I remember when I did the Christmas special, she was great in rehearsals because she really supported me and helped me learn little things that didn't come naturally to me. It's good to have that support.”

In 2023, soap star Adam Thomas repeatedly denied claims that the show was “rigged” while taking part in Strictly, as his wife Caroline Daly is a professional dancer with her own school.

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