Strictly Come Dancing's Jayde Adams reflects on emotional dance routine

Strictly Come Dancing's Jayde Adams has thanks fans of the show for their support after she dedicated her most recent dance to her late sister Jenna.

Appearing on Wednesday's (October 19) episode of It Takes Two alongside host Janette Manrara, Jayde took the opportunity to thank everyone for their kind words following the emotional dance.

"It was so lovely and the response has been absolutely mega," the comedian said when asked about the reaction to her American Smooth routine.

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She continued: "People have been sharing with me their stories, especially of sibling loss. I know some people get uncomfortable speaking about this but I think grief should be spoken about.

"We're all going to experience it and what a great place to do it"

jayde adams and karen hauer on strictly come dancing, week 4

BBC

The comedian added that, despite the dance being close to her heart, she wasn't too worried about missing a step in the routine.

"She was very calm, actually," dance partner Karen Hauer noted on the show. "[This was] the calmest I've seen her throughout the last couple of weeks, she was very serene and trusted every step of the way."

Jayde also acknowledged that hearing her sister's name mentioned by Claudia Winkleman meant a lot to her. "I knew I wanted to share my gorgeous sister with everyone and hearing Claudia say her name that was [emotional]," she said.

"I'm always going to miss her, so if it comes up it comes up, it's just a natural part of grieving."

BBC

Janette thanked the star for choosing to share her sister's story on the show, revealing that visits to bereavement websites went up by 121% after the show on Saturday.

Asked about how the public response made her feel, Jayde became emotional, adding: "This is a lot. It is all I've ever wanted to do, to make hard stuff much easier for people."

Strictly Come Dancing airs on Saturdays and Sundays on BBC One, while spin-off show Strictly: It Takes Two airs on weeknights on BBC Two. Both shows also stream on BBC iPlayer.

You can find more information and resources on how to access support around grief on Mind and NHS websites.