Meet Jamie Laing – Strictly Come Dancing 2020 contestant and Made in Chelsea star
The Made In Chelsea star is the first Strictly Come Dancing contestant to make it into the line-up on two separate series.
Jamie Laing has had something of an up and down Strictly Come Dancing journey, but he's made it all the way through to the final.
The Made in Chelsea star, who has been partnered by professional Karen Hauer, has appeared in several dance-offs over the course of the series – most recently in last week's semi-final – but has emerged unscathed so far.
In the final, he'll be hoping to impress the Strictly judges by dancing the Quickstep to Bobby Darin’s Talk to the Animals for his Judges’ Pick, repeating his Couple’s Choice to Rapper’s Delight by The Sugarhill Gang for Favourite Dance, and finally performing a Showdance to Queen’s The Show Must Go On.
He is up against HRVY, Maisie Smith and Bill Bailey, so he'll have his work cut out, and ahead of the final he admitted that he isn’t the “best dancer” on the show.
Read on to find out everything you need to know about Strictly Come Dancing line-up star, Jamie Laing.
Who is Jamie Laing?
Age: 31
Instagram: @jamielaing
Twitter: @JamieLaing_UK
Job: Reality TV star
Partnered with: Karen Hauer
Jamie is best known for appearing on E4's Made In Chelsea and being the heir to the McVitie’s biscuit fortune.
In 2011, he joined the reality TV show, which follows the lives of young, affluent individuals in West London and South West areas of Belgravia, Chelsea, King's Road and Knightsbridge, as well as their travels to other locations around the world.
Strictly won’t be Laing’s first TV appearance other than MIC.
As well as featuring on the reality series, he’s also appeared on – deep breath – First Dates, Celebrity Juice, The Apprentice: You’re Fired!, This Morning, CelebAbility, Hollyoaks, Celebrity Bake Off, Celebrity Hunted, The Crystal Maze and Love Island: Aftersun.
So, he should be well prepared to have all the camera lenses on him, as he Cha Chas his way around the Ballroom.
Laing is also the founder of confectionary company Candy Kittens.
Jamie Laing's Strictly journey so far
Scoreboard
Week One: Cha Cha (4 + 5 + 5) = 14
Week Two: American Smooth (5 + 6 + 6) = 17
Week Three: Charleston (7+8+8) = 23
Week Four: Samba (8+8+9) = 25
Week Five: Couple's Choice (9+10+10) = 29
Week Six: Tango (8 + 8 + 8) = 24
Week Seven: Jive (8 + 8 + 8) = 24
Week Eight: Samba (8+8+8) = 24 and Quickstep (8+8+8)= 24, total score = 48
Jamie began his time on Strictly 2020 scoring just 14 points in the first week and 17 in the second – landing himself in the bottom two.
However, after an impressive dance-off performance, the judges opted to save Jamie and instead send home former Home Secretary Jacqui Smith.
He and Karen had a much better performance in Week Three, scoring 23 points and moving up to sixth on the leaderboard and Week Four saw him improve further, scoring an impressive 25 points for his energetic Samba.
While Jamie's Strictly 2020 Glitterball campaign got off to a slightly rocky start, his Couple's Choice in Week Five to Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now) by C+C Music Factory blew everything he'd done up until then out of the water.
Jamie and Karen were awarded a near-perfect 29 points by the judges for the energetic routine and finished top of the leaderboard.
However, Week Six saw disappointment for the pair when they scored 24 for their Tango, and ended up in the bottom two.
They were ultimately saved by the judges after the the dance-off – making Radio 1 DJ Clara Amfo the fifth celebrity from the series to exit – with Shirley Ballas once again demanding more “musicality” from the Made in Chelsea star.
For Musicals Week, Jamie and Karen performed a Jive to Everybody’s Talking About Jamie from the stage musical of the same name and matched their score from the previous week.
Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to keep them from the dance-off, where they went head-to-head with JJ Chalmers and Amy Dowden.
Ultimately, the judges chose to save Jamie, putting him and Karen through to the semi-final, for which the couple had to perform not one but two dances.
They went for a Quickstep to Thank God I'm a Country Boy and a Samba to Donna Summer's Last Dance. Despite his best efforts, Jamie and Karen ended up in the bottom two again, this time alongside Ranvir Singh and Giovanni Pernice.
However, after dancing the Samba again, the judges decided to save Jamie and Karen, sending them through to the Strictly final.
Will he be able to pull it out of the bag this weekend? Jamie's fans will have to tune in to find out how his Glitterball bid fares.
Jamie's Strictly signing was revealed on This Morning back in September.
“Here we go again, hopefully this time I can last long enough so my mum can see me dance," he said at the time.
"The reason I’m doing it, is to make my mum proud but all I did last year was make her even more disappointed. Let’s change that this year, can’t wait!!”
Last year, Jamie revealed that he has a little dancing experience ahead of the 2019 series.
Telling viewers he’s got “a little bit of rhythm,” Laing revealed he had taken a contemporary dance course while studying at the University of Leeds.
Unfortunately he was forced to pull out after injuring his knee.
Following the news, Laing said: “I’m absolutely devastated that I’m unable to continue in the competition, I was so excited to hit the dance floor! I would like to wish the lovely couples all the very best and hope they enjoy their time on the show to the fullest.”
This was the first time a contestant show’s history that a celebrity had been forced to pull out the competition before the live shows had even started. However, Strictly is known for being pretty intense and has seen celebs sustain injuries over the years and quit as a result.
In 2009, British long-jumper Jade Johnson quit the show in 2009 after suffering a knee injury in rehearsals – which then also saw her drop out of the London 2012 Olympics.
The Strictly Come Dancing final airs on BBC One on Saturday at 6pm. If you’re looking for something to watch tonight, check out our TV Guide.
