Source: icwales.co.uk
Blue Peter hunk Gethin Jones says he’s still young, free and single despite being joined at the hip to his Strictly Come Dancing partner Camilla Dallerup.
The 29-year-old presenter has set tabloid tongues wagging since wowing the judges on the hit BBC1 show every Saturday with his Danish dance beauty.
Last week millions of viewers saw gorgeous Gethin treat Camilla to a night on the tiles in London as they prepared to take to the floor.
But despite being encouraged to ask Camilla out on a date by his mum, Cardiff bachelor boy Gethin insists the pair’s relationship is Strictly professional.
As he prepared to take to the floor last night, Gethin said: “She’s like my mum and my sister and my wife all rolled into one.
“But more than that she’s become like a best friend because at the moment I see her more than anyone else in my life.
“Literally 10 weeks ago, it was a case of ‘Hi I’m Camilla’, ‘Hi I’m Geth’, ‘Right, put your hands on my bum and move this way’,” laughed Gethin, who was voted Company Magazine Bachelor of the Year in 2004.
“It’s been incredibly intense from the word go.”
Gethin, who speaks Welsh as his first language and led three orchestras while still at school, said that before Strictly Come Dancing, he had only danced at primary school, Cardiff’s Ysgol Coed y Gof.
“I had two left feet at the start of this, I couldn’t dance at all,” he said. “Now I’m just bad.
“So much of it is about confidence. When I’m out there swinging my hips, I’m thinking to myself, ‘Do people really want to see this?’ It’s getting over that fear of looking a bit daft.
“Camilla’s really helped me to understand that it’s all about performing. To go out there and do a rumba on Saturday night and get three eights, and for Camilla to be pleased with it, means a lot.
“I know it’s just dancing, but when you’re in the bubble it takes over you’re life. So we take it very seriously, but because we do that we can have a lot of fun with it.”
Super-fit Gethin, who had trials with Sale rugby club before starting his career as a TV presenter with the Welsh language shows Popty and Uned 5, says that he does not have any time for romance in his life.
“Oh yes, I’m still young, free and single,” he laughs.
“It’s difficult to commit any time to anyone but then I think when the right person comes along you make time.
“We’ll see what happens. Watch this space.”
Gethin, who became the 31st presenter of Blue Peter in 2005, says he’s been overwhelmed by the support he has received and by the interest in the show.
He said: “It’s incredible how popular the show is. I’ll be in the supermarket and people will come up to me and say ‘Gethin, we want to discuss your hip action!’
“There I am buying my rice pudding and people keep on coming up to me. It’s really weird. They want to talk dancing. I’ll even have a little practice with them there and then. It weirds them out a bit.”
Gethin recently went down a storm by wowing teachers and pupils at his old school, Ysgol Glan Taf in Cardiff.
He said: “I went to my old high school to say thank you for all the support I’ve been getting.
“The reaction was amazing. But what was really incredible was the older boys in the sixth form… even they were positive towards it. It’s all about learning a new skill and people can empathise with that.
“I think that’s why Letitia (Dean) is doing so well, because people empathise with her because she is totally out of her comfort zone.
“Yet every Saturday night she’s out there giving it her best and… she’s turning into a really great performer.”
Gethin, a fully qualified pilot, admits that everyone was “totally shocked” when fellow Welsh contestant and former hot favourite Gabby Logan was voted off the show four weeks ago.
“I really get on well with Gabby and have kept in touch with her and Kenny,” he said.
“He and I get on great, we’ve got exactly the same sense of humour. We all went out for dinner last Saturday with some of their friends after the show.
“It was a massive shock when Gabby went out because she could have easily won it. There was a really weird atmosphere in the studio the night she went out. It was the first time people really thought, ‘Well, this is a level playing field now’.”
Gethin, who is now being tipped to win, says he will miss the intensity of the show when it comes to an end.
“When people leave it’s the not having to get up on a Saturday or Sunday morning to train to dance that they really miss,” he said.
“It must be quite odd. So it makes me more determined to enjoy every week.”
And Gethin says he and Camilla will definitely keep in touch when they dance their final waltz.
He said: “ I’d love to be part of a Strictly Come Dancing tour at some stage next year, but because Blue Peter have been so kind and given me a bit of leeway to do this TV show, I don’t think they’re going to be that impressed if I turn up and say, ‘Can I have the whole of January and February off as well?’
“But I really would love to do it – especially in my home town, Cardiff.”
And with Christmas in his sights, Gethin says the perfect gift for him would be “a leg transplant with Anton and Brendan so me and Camilla could dance our way to the final.
“The judges are hilarious,” he said. “I love it when they start arguing. My favourite comment so far was Bruno saying after the male group dance, ‘It looks like you’ve been rehearsing by text!’
“Between them they have so much more experience. You can only listen and try to prove them wrong the following week. Some of us have danced before, some haven’t.
“That’s why it’s so difficult for the judges to choose between us. “And that’s why people love the show – it’s so unpredictable.”