Ever since Jayde Adams and Karen Hauer got down and dirty in their first dance of this year’s Strictly Come Dancing, they were my winners. Over the weeks, their dances have made viewers feel almost every emotion under the sun. And yes, I am non-binary, but every time the power duo chant, “Let’s go girls!” I join in from my living room with the same fervour I unleash when Shania Twain’s Man! I Feel Like A Woman comes on.
Dressed in black workout gear, the duo join our Zoom call from their rehearsal studio at The Big Act in Jayde’s hometown of Bristol. They’re eating Pho’s summer rolls and I feel like I’ve been invited to a sleepover with two of the coolest girls in school. They’re totally in sync, finishing each other’s sentences and hyping each other up.
How did it feel when they found out they’d been partnered together? “Once we met, it felt like we had known each other for the longest time. It was an instant connection,” Karen says. “I’ve seen it on the show, where you don’t get along with your celebrity, but with us, it’s been amazing from the beginning.” From the moment Karen saw Jayde’s “freaking phenomenal” confidence in their first live show, she was like, “Ok, I got you. I see you.”
Karen smiles as she reflects on how quickly they bonded. “It’s“She got mad at me the other day because I had a cheeky little snog and I hadn’t told her,” Jayde reveals. “She was like, ‘I can’t believe that you held that from me for four hours!’” They both chuckle over this horrifying betrayal of trust.
