JOHN WHAITE has opened up on how he fell victim to the infamous Strictly Come Dancing curse.
The Great British Bake Off star said it gripped him so intensely that at one point he got jealous of anyone or anything close to dance partner Johannes Radebe — including the pro’s sweat.
In his autobiography, Dancing On Eggshells, John tells how he became so inseparable from Johannes that it nearly ruined his 14-year relationship with fiance Paul Atkins.
John, who was runner-up on the BBC One dance contest in 2021, wrote: “After that final dance, I hung up my clothes for the last time. I felt a sense of loss.
“Not because the competition was over, I was knackered and ready for a break, but because I wouldn’t get to see Johannes every single day.
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“I watched him as he sat on the window sill of the dressing room drinking a glass of champagne, still sparkling in his bright white show dance outfit. I was jealous of the sweat beads as they shimmered on his beautiful skin. I wanted to be close to him . . . We hugged goodbye, I didn’t want to let go.”
He added of the Strictly curse: “Johannes knew that [the curse] could happen. He had seen it a thousand times with his dance companions over the years.
“When you are physically pressed against another man for ten hours a day, things move emotionally . . . He was being cautious. Strictly has a magical way of revealing the truth.
“For a while, Paul and I had to have some time apart. I felt like I didn’t know what I wanted from my existence any more. Paul had moved back with his parents and I thought to myself ‘What the hell are you doing?’ I was making that childhood premonition of growing old alone come true.
“Fourteen years in a solid relationship with a man who loves me unconditionally, a man who would move the earth to make me feel safe and I was p***ing all over it.”
Aside from his relationship struggle, John is critical of his Strictly co-stars in the book.
He slams them as “reeling off the same bull***t spiel week after week” and dubs the show “Sickly Come Dancing”.
Despite all this, he insists that his experience on the dance contest will be “etched on his heart until its last beat”.
