John Whaite has joked he’s anticipating “complaints” after his and Johannes Radebe’s performance on Strictly Come Dancing this weekend.
The Great British Bake Off winner and his professional partner will be taking on the Rumba during Saturday night’s live show, and has promised an “intimate” routine.
During Tuesday night’s It Takes Two, presenter Rylan Clark-Neal told the couple: “We are in a new week and you are going to be Rumba-ing. To [Sting’s Shape Of My Heart]. I mean… sensual central!”
“Just you wait till you see it!” John teased. “We’re going to get complaints.”
He continued: “It’s intimate, and day one when we did this on Monday, I’m not ashamed to admit this, when we danced it I actually cried.
“We’ve done all these very masculine things, all these very powerful things, which have been great. But to finally show a sensitive, emotional side, it’s beautiful.”
Johannes agreed: “I think it’s an opportunity for me and John to be vulnerable on that dance floor, because we haven’t had the opportunity. I’m loving every minute of it.”
“So, we’re getting a real, emotional close performance from you two?” Rylan questioned.
“Oh, I breathe down his neck,” John joked. “I’m not going to have garlic. No salmon.”
John and Johannes made Strictly history this year as the first pairing to be made up of two men, following in the footsteps of Nicola Adams and Katya Jones who competed together as the show’s first ever same-sex paternship in 2020.
However, the pair both admitted last week they’d had reservations about being part of a same-sex duo on Strictly, with Johannes telling Hello! magazine: “I thought criticism would come from all sides. After speaking to my therapist I realised what was holding me back was still feeling ashamed.
“Despite my fear, I couldn’t let this opportunity go to anyone else.”
John and Johannes also said they have turned off most of their social media accounts in a bid to block out homophobic abuse.
Johannes added: “I did it for the sake of my mental health. For me to function properly and give John the experience he deserves, I need to be fit mentally and physically.
“If you consider what people are saying about you on social media you would never survive an experience like this.”
However, the pair also celebrated the positive impact of their same-sex pairing, with Johannes saying it “stands for something far bigger than we actually realise”.
Strictly Come Dancing continues on Saturday night on BBC One.