John Whaite has admitted he has cried during training for Strictly Come Dancing.
The Great British Bake Off star, who will make history as part of the first all-male couple in the show’s history, said he is “living his best life” during training for the show but has found some moments challenging.
The chef will be paired with Johannes Radebe for the upcoming series, following in the footsteps of Nicola Adams and Katya Jones, who were the first same-sex couple to appear on the show last year.
He told Channel 4’s Steph’s Packed Lunch: “Sometimes the days are stressful and we have to take a few more breaks.
John & Johannes: What it means to be the first same-sex male couple competing on #Strictly and what we can expect from their first dance this Saturday 🕺@jojo_radebe #JohnWhaite #StephsPackedLunch pic.twitter.com/oH5MZotpAf
— Steph's Packed Lunch (@PackedLunchC4) September 21, 2021
“Last week when we were learning the steps, I was getting really stressed… I glaze over.
“I reach mental saturation and he has to either feed me Haribo or send me home and I think it’s easier just to put me in cab and send me home.”
He added: “He (Johannes) was being too nice.
“I said ‘Johannes, I’m just not getting it so please can you talk me through the steps, be horrible to me and I’ll get it.’
“He was like ‘No darling, I don’t do that’.
“I started crying…”
Whaite also said he has been suffering with nerves, saying: “On Friday when we were rehearsing the launch show, I was so scared.
“I had to sit down, he had to come and talk to me, I honestly didn’t think I could do it… Come Saturday when we were all on the dance floor together, we had the most fun ever.”
Radebe said it has been emotional to be part of the first all-male pairing on the show, adding: “I’ve been championing this all my life… For the fact the moment is here now…it’s been lovely.
“I saw Nicola and Katya do it last year and was like ‘yay’, so when it does come round I would love to be a part of it.
“So when John said ‘I want to do this’ and proudly so, I was like ‘This is my guy.
“‘It has to be him, it has to be me and him’.”
Radebe revealed they will be lifting each other in routines, saying: “We just need to the balance in that we’re two big blokes, we need to find a balance to dance around each other.
“The principles are still there, the fundamentals are still the same but me and John have got an interesting thing because we switch between roles and you can’t get that in a female-male partnership… I think that’s what’s going to be dynamic about this partnership.”
Whaite added: “I’ll be clinging onto this one for dear life.
“I think that was the biggest shock, he’s been spinning around all these women all his life and he’s now got a 15 and a half stone lad.
“When he first spun me round, I almost pulled him over, I’ve stood on his toes, he’s got nail marks in his back from spinning…”
Steph’s Packed Lunch airs weekdays at 12.30pm on Channel 4 and All 4.