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Former Strictly professional James Jordan says split from Ola has been ‘tough’

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice. Former Strictly Come Dancing professional James Jordan has said his split from partner Ola has been “a tough few years”. The couple, […]

By deepak · August 19, 2026 · 2 min read

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Former Strictly Come Dancing professional James Jordan has said his split from partner Ola has been “a tough few years”.

The couple, who met at a dance competition in 1999 and tied the knot in 2003, announced they had split after 22 years of marriage earlier in August.

Both professional ballroom dancers and choreographers, the pair share a six-year-old daughter, Ella, who they conceived through IVF following a widely publicised three-year fertility struggle.

Speaking about the split on This Morning, Jordan said: “I’m okay.

“Yeah, I’m okay. It’s been a tough few years and obviously myself and Ola, I moved out a few months ago and it has been really tough.

“I find it hard to talk about and I’m not going to speak about it too much because I don’t think it’s fair on her, the fact that she is not here as well to speak about it.”

He said it has been helpful having people check in on him and “knowing that people are out there that you can talk to”.

He added: “Otherwise I’m now sitting in a one-bedroom apartment on my own at night watching TV, going, ‘what is going on?’

“But I just feel I need that time to find myself again.”

The pair became household names in 2006, when they joined BBC entertainment programme Strictly Come Dancing as professionals.

James, 48, featured on the hit show until 2013 and was partnered with stars including Vanessa Feltz, Alex Jones, Denise Van Outen, and Pamela Stephenson.

He has also made TV appearances on celebrity versions of Total Wipeout and Splash!, on reality show Celebrity Big Brother, and was a regular panellist on The Wright Stuff.

James also won Dancing On Ice in 2019, competing with Finnish skater Alexandra Schauman.

Source: Read the original article on www.standard.co.uk