Strictly Come Dancing star Janette Manrara hit back at the backlash she faced after welcoming her first child with Aljaž Škorjanec in 2023
Former Strictly Come Dancing star Janette Manrara recently admitted she was saddened to learn that she didn’t get the job as one of the show’s new hosts. After stepping away from the ballroom in 2020, the 42-year-old went on to become a host on Strictly: It Takes Two before she was replaced by Ellie Taylor for this year’s series.
Since 2023, Janette has juggled her work commitments with being a mum to her three-year-old daughter, Lyra, who she shares with her husband and fellow Strictly professional Aljaž Škorjanec.
Six weeks into motherhood, the mum-of-one said she was “so excited” to return to work on Morning Live, having spent time in the baby bubble that many new mums can relate to. However, much to her surprise, she received a barrage of backlash from fellow mums.
Speaking on the Great Company with Jamie Laing podcast, she admitted she was left “angry” by the response.
Asked about online abuse, she shared: “I remember I was six weeks postpartum and Morning Live called me and asked me if I could come in to host and I was so excited, I was like, ‘Yes!’
“And then I went [there] and I had an amazing time, I felt like a person again where I wasn’t at home with the baby all day. Not that it wasn’t lovely, it was a beautiful bubble that I was in with Lyra but I just felt so excited to go back to work,” Janette added.
After expressing her excitement on Instagram, the dancer said she read comments such as: “I can’t believe you’re leaving your child.”
She said another troll accused her of setting a bad example for other mothers and claimed that she didn’t love her child.
She recalled: “I was like, ‘Are you kidding me?’ Where is the girl power, the female support if the first person to judge me when I’m doing something is a woman of all people?”
Janette says more backlash occurred when she went on a UK and Ireland tour to play Roxie Hart in Chicago for six months.
She explained that, in the worst-case scenario, she saw Lyra once a week, though she said she was mostly on the road with her, with the support of Aljaž.
This year, Janette is championing her husband, who is back on the dance floor for Strictly 2026. The dancer is paired with Gavin and Stacey star Melanie Walters, one of this year’s 15 celebrities hoping to win the Glitterball trophy.
The competition continues this weekend with the second live show, as all the dancing duos return to the dance floor for Movie Week.
Strictly Come Dancing continues Saturday at 6.15pm on BBC One
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