Strictly star JB Gill opens up on switching partners – and admits it felt like disadvantage

Together with Lauren, JB has continued to be a high scorer in the competition, and is now in the running to pick up the Glitterball this weekend – though he admits it was a trickier adjustment than he made it look.

Speaking ahead of the finale, JB said: "Initially I felt like it was a disadvantage, to be honest, because, you know, I was very used to dancing and working with Amy.

"By definition, working with anybody else would have been different, Lauren or any other pro, so coming in and having to then work with Lauren, and to her style of teaching, the way she works, it's completely different.

"I feel like my background has enabled me to deal with it better, but certainly the first couple of weeks, I think I was lucky in the sense that I had a Couple's Choice, and then we went into Samba.

"Then by the time we actually did a ballroom dance together, the Quickstep, we'd kind of been working with each other for about three weeks.

"So, you know, that was a difficult adjustment to make, and I don't think people understand quite how difficult it is to do partner work with somebody, then work with someone completely different.

"Obviously, for the pros, they're used to it, because they've been doing it for 15, 20, however many years. For me it was tough, initially."

However, JB added that it may have ultimately worked out in his favour. "I think in hindsight, it probably has been an advantage, because it's meant that I've had to survive through every experience," he added.

"Obviously, I had to work with Amy, had to overcome that situation in the middle where there was changing and so on, then had to adopt a slightly different style in the sense of working with Lauren.

"I don't know, maybe it's helped me showcase different parts of me as well, It's only been helpful, I guess."

But while Amy is no longer JB’s pro partner, the Welsh dancer has been on hand as a vital source of support for him and Lauren as they made their way through to the finale – and will be there cheering them on on Saturday night.

"She was there at the semi-final and she's over the moon that we're in the final," he said.

"She's been a huge support from, obviously, day one, but even when she was not doing not working with me anymore, she's been massively in our corner, you know, wanting us to do well, sending messages and checking how things are going, asking how our week is.

"Of course, it's very unorthodox, it's not something I think that's ever happened on Strictly Come Dancing before. But she's very much a part of the partnership and she has been just as valuable to me as Lauren has, you know. So it's been great to have her support throughout the whole process."

In order to win, JB and Lauren will perform three final routines – their Viennese Waltz to Let’s Go Fly a Kite from Mary Poppins from Musicals Week as the judges’ choice, their Samba to Mas Que Nada by Sergio Mendes as their own, and a Showdance to a Motown Medley.

Then it will be up to the public to decide whether they win the Glitterball.

But it won’t be easy, with Love Island’s Tasha Ghouri and Aljaž Škorjanec, comedian Chris McCausland and pro Dianne Buswell, and Miranda’s Sarah Hadland with last year’s winner Vito Coppola all also vying for the trophy.

The winner will be revealed on Saturday night’s show-stopping live finale.

The Strictly Come Dancing 2024 final airs Saturday at 6pm continues on BBC One and iPlayer.

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