Who is Janette Manrara and does she have kids with Aljaz Skorjanec?
MIAMI-born Jannette Manrara is an American professional dancer.
Before the American dancer joined Strictly, she was a regular on Glee. Here’s what e know.
Who is Janette Manrara and when did she join Strictly Come Dancing?
Janette Manrara, now going by her married name Skorjanec, is a professional dancer.
Born in Miami, Florida, the American comes from a Cuban family and formally studied dancing from the age of 19.
She began her career performing in musical theatre at the age of 12 before studying all areas of dance, and finished her dance training while studying Finance.
Janette worked for a Hispanic TV station at this time and also danced with Jennifer Lopez on stage.
Her first taste of telly fame came when she took part in the 2009 series of American reality show So You Think You Can Dance?.
After this she joined Glee in 2010 as a principal dancer.
Janette joined the Strictly family in 2013 and the rest is history.
Who has Janette been partnered with on Strictly?
For the 2020 series Janette’s partner was pop star HRVY.
The pair placed as runners up in the show.
In 2019 she was paired with paralympian Will Bayley, but they were forced to pull out after he sustained a bad knee injury.
In 2018 Janette was partnered with This Morning doctor Dr Ranj Singh.
In 2017, she danced with Radio star Melvin Odoom, but they were knocked out first.
What does Janette do on Strictly Come Dancing now?
Janette announced her own departure from the professional line-up last year as she moved into the presenter role for spin off show It Takes Two.
Aljaz also announced that he is set to leave Strictly Come Dancing following nine years on the show as a Professional Dancer.
Janette shared a photo of her husband on Instagram with a caption saying: “I cannot express the sadness in my heart to see @aljazskorjanec say goodbye to @bbcstrictly, but at the same time there is so much joy in my heart for what he has brought to the show these past 9 years.”
When did Janette and Aljaz Skorjanec get married?
Janette is married to Aljaz Skorjanec, a Slovenian professional dancer six years her junior.
He also acts as a pro partner on Strictly Come Dancing after joining in 2013 – at the same time as Janette.
Aljaz and Janette were engaged in 2015 and then married on July, 15, 2017.
They’d been together for six years before that.
Janette Manrara recently revealed her and husband Aljaz Skorjanec’s surprising wedding vow that keeps the “magic” in their relationship.
Janette admitted: “One of Aljaz’s wedding vows was: ‘I swear to take you to Disney once a year!’ – I’ve definitely gone once every year of my life except for last year obviously because everything was shut.”
The pair also shared steamy snaps in a London spa as they celebrated their third wedding anniversary.
Do Janette and Aljaz have children?
Janette and Aljaz currently do not have any children.
Despite their jam-packed schedules, the pair certainly haven’t ruled out starting a family in the future.
In an interview with Hello, the couple revealed they are starting to plan a family – but “taking it slowly.”
Janette said: “It’s never going to be the perfect time to have a baby but we do talk about it a lot and we are very much looking forward to becoming a mum and dad.
“So it’s definitely going to happen. When, we don’t know, we’ll see. We’re kind of taking it slowly.
“A dancer’s career can be quite short, especially when you reach a certain level, and work is going so good for us at the moment [so] that is the priority.”
Jannette and Aljaz are believed to have delayed their baby plans for a year as they signed up for Strictly 2021.
The professional couple originally planned to have a baby after realising there was no “perfect time”.