James Jordan on why one Lancashire town means so much to him & what's next for his career

James Jordan is probably best known for being a professional dancer on BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing between 2006-2013, but aside from his ballroom dancing career, the now 47-year-old has made a name for himself as a TV personality too, appearing on hit shows like Dancing on Ice and Celebrity Big Brother.

As 2025 came to an end, we caught up with James to see how his year has gone, what he’s looking forward to next year and of course, being a dancer, what his memories of Blackpool are.

See what James had to say in the full chat below, arranged by Freebets.com, the home of new casino sites, where he works as the entertainment betting expert.

How much of a part has Blackpool had in your life?

“Oh, I mean being British and having the Closed British and Open British competitions in Blackpool, you know, Blackpool is -as everyone knows, because of Strictly more than anything- the mecca of dance. Especially the one in May, the Open, that is known all around the world. Everyone knows, in the dance world, the Blackpool Championships in the Winter Gardens. I was very fortunate, because I'm British, I got to go up there two times a year, I used to go up in November as well for the Closed British so throughout my dance career, I’ve been to Blackpool so many times for competitions. I've also done lots of shows there with Ola, whether it be in the Tower or the Winter Gardens. So yeah, Blackpool has been a massive part of my dancing life.”

Have you got a standout memory from Blackpool?

“There was one time that we were in the Tower Ballroom, and it was back in the days when Claudia was hosting ‘It Takes Two’ and she was unable to go to Blackpool that week, and she, or the producers, asked if I would do Claudia's job at Blackpool and host like the behind the scenes from Blackpool. So that was an amazing thing to be part of, because I was out of the competition by then, but I still felt like a massive part of it, hosting Strictly from Blackpool. It was, yeah, a very nice thing to be able to do.”

In recent years, have you been able to visit much?

“I actually went to Blackpool this year. I had a couple that were dancing in a competition so I went up there to support them.”

And when you were in Blackpool, is there anywhere you particularly like visiting?

“When I was younger, I always used to like going to the amusement arcades. But we also we used to have lots of parties as well in the hotels, down in the basements, like Latin parties, where they used to put Latin music on, and everyone would dance until the early hours of the morning.

“I remember -what is the street right next to the Winter Gardens called, where you have all the hotels, is it Albert Road? But anyway, I remember all the hotels. I remember what they looked like. I remember what the rooms were like. I remember going to the Pleasure Beach and going on the Big One. They also had like this Haunted House, and a lot of the dancers used to go around there. Yeah, I have so many amazing memories of Blackpool.”

Talking about amazing memories, as we're coming up to the end of 2025, can I ask you for a highlight of the year?

“I would say me and the boys going on the Legends Tour. It was the five old boys from Strictly- myself, Brendan Cole, Ian Waite, Pasha Kovalev and Vincent Simone- we did our own tour, traveling around the country, 35 dates, pretty much sold out everywhere, which is amazing, because when you think I left Strictly 12 years ago, Vincent left 13 or 14 years ago, Ian about 15, and we're still selling out theatres up and down the country. So yeah, that was a brilliant tour to be part of.”

How different was it - in terms of the dynamics between you all, the performance- from now to when you were on Strictly 15 years ago together.

“I got on with all four of them very well on the show and being on tour with them was no different but I feel that we've all been there and done it. It's like we're not competing against each other. Although we still want to do well ourselves. I love watching them, you know, I’m a big fan of all of their dancing, very supportive. Whereas when you were on Strictly, you'd want to beat them, as much as they're your friends, there's that element of competition. On tour, I just felt we were all a massive team, there was lots of camaraderie, lots of banter. We all take the mickey out of each other on stage. We have a good laugh. It's quite un-PC as well, I’m not saying that it's terrible, but we do push the boundaries, because I feel that most of the tours that are out there, they're dictated what they can and can't say by the BBC where we’re not so we kind of say it as it is, which I think is quite refreshing for 95% of the country's population. Of course, you've got the 5% of people that will possibly not want to, yeah, the woke ones.”

On the opposite side, do you have a learning curve from the year as well?

“I don't know. I think we learn every day, don't we? I don't think there's anything in particular that I would say ‘Oh yes, I've grown so much as a person because of that’, like everyone does when they go on these TV shows. ‘Oh yes, it's really changed my life. I feel like I know who I am now’. I'm 47 you know, I'm still learning every day. I've got a daughter that is teaching me different things about myself as well. I think every day we're growing as people.”

You've mentioned Strictly a few times, do you still see the show being at the forefront of British TV in many years’ time?

“I do. I think the format is so strong and people love it. You know, you've got your core Strictly audience which will always watch the show. I mean, yes, back in the day, when I was on it, it was getting 15 million plus viewers - I remember in 2012 it hit something like 15.22million. Those days are gone but people watch TV differently now. Now Tess and Claudia are going -who I absolutely love and adore, I think that they're the nuts and bolts of the show - when they find replacements for them, it's going to be hard to fill their shoes but let's hope they bring in the right people for the job because if they do, I think the show can keep going for many, many more years to come.”

Could you be the right person for the job?

“Yeah, possibly! I'd quite like to take Tess's job up in her area with all the competitors, but I think I'd probably be better suited to be a judge because of my honesty, and I think the British public deserve that rather than sometimes I do feel that there's a little bit of favoritism that goes on from the judges. Yeah, I think, you know, people have been watching Strictly now for 21 years. They know what's a good dance and what's not a good dance. Maybe technically, they won't. So, yeah, I think that I would bring a bit of brutal honesty to the show.”

You’ve also been on Big Brother twice as well, as i's now moved over to ITV, could we see you go back for a third time?

“I'd like to be the first person to do it three times. How amazing would that be? Yeah, I’d do it. I love Big Brother. I love the concepts. I'm a wind up merchant anyway, so I don't take myself too seriously. I don't think they would ask me because of the fact I've done it twice before but yeah, I would jump at a chance if they did.”

Aside from the possibility of Celebrity Big Brother, can fans and Lancashire expect anything else exciting from you in 2026?

“We have signed up for the Legends Tour again, and myself and Brendan Cole are in talks about our own tour, which is potentially very, very exciting as well.”

Why do you want to go off on another tour?

“It's a different kind of tour because obviously myself and Brendan are known to be, you know, the bad boys of Ballroom or whatever it is. So the two of us have got something very exciting in the pipeline.”

And James, for young people in Lancashire who want to go into professional dancing, what advice would you give them?

“Oh my god, see lots of people say to me ‘is your daughter going to be a dancer?’ And I'm like ‘No, she's not going to be a dancer’ because I think it's one of the hardest professions to to be in and earn a decent living from unless you're extremely, extremely lucky, and in the right place at the right time. So I would say, if you want it as a hobby and you love dancing, amazing. Do I think it's the best profession in the world? Probably not, like I said, unless you're very lucky. I know so many people in the West End that are amazing, amazing dancers, dancing pretty much eight shows a week and getting 500/600 pounds a week. Well for me, I find that a travesty, that someone with so much talent is getting paid such little money. So yeah, would I advise someone to go and be a dancer? Probably not.”

But you yourself, obviously, were found to be personable enough that you went beyond professional dancer to also being a celebrity. Why do you think that is?

“I think someone like me is an anomaly because I don't necessarily follow the crowd. I think a lot of celebrities, when they're on TV, they don't necessarily say what they truly believe, because they kind of say what they think people want to hear. I say what I think because I believe I have a right to my opinion. I'm not saying you have to agree with what I say, although I think the majority of the people in Britain would agree with most things I say. I'm not saying I'm the most likable. I'm kind of Marmite, aren't I, because when you're outspoken and you're opinionated, if people don't agree with you, it means ‘oh, I don't like him because of his opinion’. So I could sit back and be one of these nicey, nicey people who kisses up to everyone, tells everyone how amazing they are and how life is so beautiful, and how everything is so amazing, and be sickly sweet but I wouldn't be true to myself, that's the first thing.I just feel that being honest for me is the best way, and I suppose it's kept me relevant, because I'm one of the few celebrities that is brave enough to speak out about certain things.”