Former Strictly Come Dancing contestant Aston Merrygold addressed his past ‘rule break’ while expressing support for bandmate JB Gill.
The JLS sensation, 36, featured on Thursday’s episode of Lorraine Kelly’s ITV chat show, hosted by Ranvir Singh, where conversation quickly turned to the popular BBC dance contest.
Aston participated in the 2017 series with professional partner Janette Manrara, but fell short of victory after losing a tense dance-off against Mollie King and AJ Pritchard.
Ranvir highlighted that he was eliminated for “breaking the rules,” stating: “I remember Shirley said ‘you’re a brilliant dancer but that wasn’t ballroom’. So you sort of got sent home for breaking the rules.”
Aston openly confessed: “I mean it was a bit of a flash and I didn’t know what was going on. When you’re standing there and getting the comments, you are just thinking ‘I’m not listening, I’m just trying to catch my breath’.”
Ranvir interjected: “I thought you were going to win that year,” as Aston disclosed: “It’s a different skill set and I remember Janette saying to me in the rehearsal room ‘I wish you were not dancing before this because it is a lot harder to pull you back.'”
He offered some words of wisdom to JB, who is currently competing with Welsh professional Amy Dowden, advising: “Don’t do what I did.”
He remarked: “I think he is doing amazing and he should just continue what he is doing. I think for J now he should bring out his personality more because we have only just scratched the surface right now so I’m looking forward to it.”
JB found himself standing alone on Sunday night’s results show after his dance partner Amy was taken to hospital following a concerning incident where she reportedly ‘collapsed’ post the live show on Saturday, reports the Express.
It has since been confirmed that Amy is “feeling much better” however she will be taking a step back from this weekend’s performance. JB is set to showcase his moves with professional dancer Lauren Oakley instead.
With the unexpected switch-up in partners, Aston shared some kind words for Amy: “For him I think having to switch partners at such a last minute and that whole thing is going to obviously play a massive part and pressure but I’m sending lots of love to Amy.”
Lorraine airs weekdays on ITV1 at 9am and Strictly Come Dancing airs Saturdays and Sundays on BBC One