Alex Jones can't escape Matt's Strictly advice

Alex Jones can't escape Matt's Strictly advice
Alex Jones can't escape Matt's Strictly advice (Image credit: BBC)

Alex Jones says she won't be able to get away from co-host Matt Baker now she is following him on to the dancefloor in Strictly Come Dancing. The Welsh presenter will be under pressure to do as well as Matt, who made it to last year's final before losing to Kara Tointon. She said: "Matt has not shut up since the day I told him I was taking part in Strictly. He has a line of advice for absolutely everything from what to eat, who to be partnered with, to hopping on one leg for balance. "I go to bed hearing Matt Baker's voice. I think when I'm practising with my partner we'll see Matt's head bobbing at the window taking notes on me." Meanwhile, Waterloo Road's Chelsee Healey refused to rule out the possibility of a Strictly romance. The actress, who plays Janeece Bryant, said she was looking forward to the 'challenge' of starring in the hit BBC1 ballroom dancing show and meeting her dance partner. She said: "I would like someone who will work me hard and provide me with a challenge. I'd also like someone who is also fun to work with so we can have a laugh when needed." Asked if she was looking for romance on the show, she said: "Yes, I'm single and yes why not, I wouldn't rule anything out." And former footballer Robbie Savage promised to be polite to the judges - or risk a telling-off from his mum. He said: "One thing my mother taught me is to respect your elders and respect people who know what they are doing. If the judges diss me, who am I to tell them what they're doing? I'd never argue off the field, it's not who I am."

Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 


An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.