Ola Jordan Returns to Strictly Come Dancing After 11 Years

Former professional dancer Ola Jordan is returning to the Strictly Come Dancing television franchise through the BBC companion show It Takes Two, 11 years after leaving the main competition. She is scheduled to join the program's Friday panel during Week 3, alongside former contestants Sarah Hadland and Dr Ranj, as she navigates her separation from fellow dancer James Jordan.

The announcement came at the end of Thursday's It Takes Two episode, according to the source report published by suaragarut.id. Graeme, Tabby and Delta are also scheduled to appear in the Friday episode.

Ola left Strictly Come Dancing in 2015 after spending 10 years as a professional dancer on the show. One of her career highlights came in 2009, when she won the competition's Glitterball trophy with sports reporter Chris Hollins.

Her return comes amid changes in her personal life. Ola and James, who had been together for 26 years and married for 22, announced their separation publicly in August through a joint statement shared on their Instagram accounts.

The couple described the circumstances surrounding their decision in the statement.

"taking some time apart as we work through very difficult personal challenges." the couple said.

They also emphasized that raising their six-year-old daughter, Ella, together remained their shared priority. Following the announcement, Ola traveled abroad with their daughter, while speculation about a possible reconciliation continued.

A report by The Sun cited a source familiar with the situation who described Ola's feelings about the relationship and her doubts about repairing it.

"She is still in love with James but can’t see a way of getting past this. Ola doesn’t think she can forgive him." the source told The Sun.

James has also spoken publicly about his personal difficulties, including uncertainty over his career and direction in life. During an interview with Craig Doyle and Angela Scanlon, he described the period he was experiencing.

"I’m going through a midlife crisis," James said.

He further acknowledged that the previous few years had been difficult and that he was struggling to manage everyday life.

"The last few years, for me, have been really tough. I’m not afraid to admit it. I put my hands up and say I’m struggling with life at the minute." James said.

James also identified career decisions and uncertainty about his purpose as contributing factors to his difficulties.

"So many different things, with career choices, waking up and not knowing [my] purpose, things like that." James said.

He connected those experiences to Manopause, a project he described as an effort to support middle-aged men facing similar challenges.

"Manopause is for the middle-aged man that’s struggling a little bit and hopefully we’re going to be able to help ourselves and help you at the same time." James said.

In a subsequent update, James confirmed that he had moved out of the family home several months earlier. He described the separation as difficult and explained why he did not want to discuss the relationship in extensive detail while Ola was not present to offer her perspective.

"I'm OK. It's been a tough few years and obviously myself and Ola, I've moved out a few months ago and it has been really tough." James said.

He said discussing the separation publicly was difficult because Ola was not there to share her side of the situation.

"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's not here as well to speak about it." James said.

James also described living alone in a one-bedroom apartment and needing time to reassess his life following the move.

"I'm now sitting in a one-bedroom apartment on my own at night, watching TV, going 'What is going on?' But I just need that time to find myself again. People could say 'It's really selfish of you too...' but I just felt like I...yeah." James said.

Ola's scheduled appearance on It Takes Two marks her return to the Strictly Come Dancing television franchise after an 11-year absence from the main competition.