Katya Jones has said that Nicola Adams and her have “put everything” into their preparations for the Strictly Come Dancing final.
The pair, who left the competition after Jones tested positive for coronavirus, will perform a non-competitive routine in the final of the BBC One celebrity dancing competition.
They made history as the first same-sex couple to compete in the programme when they performed earlier in the series.
Jones told BBC One’s Morning Live the “positive” side to their withdrawal is that “we get to have a chance to dance without having pressure of comments, of scores”.
Discussing their routine, she added: “It’s a little bit sexy but in the most tasteful way.
“We’ve literally put everything into it.”
Jones said the lifts in the routine had left the legs of former boxer Adams “really in pain”.
Discussing their exit following her positive test, Jones said: “I got a phone call and I just broke down instantly and Nicola didn’t know what was going on and I kept saying, ‘Can she carry on without me?’
“For me of course, that’s the thing, I want our celebs to have the best experience and to go as far as possible but we had to do what we had to do.”
Adams said the fact that she did not catch coronavirus from Jones “blew my mind”.
“It was really difficult because I’m a champion, I’m a fighter, I would rather go out on my shield than be taken out by a virus but we had to abide by the Government rules and want to make everybody safe, but it was just so hard to deal with,” she said.
“But who knows, maybe I’ll get a second chance?”
Jones said she gets “voted the bossiest pro” every year on the programme.
She added: “This year, for the first time, I swear, I have not raised my voice once.”
The pair, whose Strictly performances included a routine inspired by the film Grease, self-isolated separately after Jones’s positive test.
HRVY, Maisie Smith, Bill Bailey and Jamie Laing will compete for the glitterball trophy in the Strictly final.