Janette Manrara married Aljaz Skorjanec in 2017
Janette Manrara first strutted onto the Strictly Come Dancing ballroom back in 2013.
It didn’t take long before she became a fan favourite on the BBC One dance competition with her bubbly personality and impressive dance moves.
Although she never took home the infamous Glitterball trophy, she danced with some of the biggest celebrities including JLS frontman Aston Merrygold, musician Peter Andre, EastEnders hunk Jake Wood and I’m A Celebrity star Melvin Odoom.
During her time on the show, she met her future husband and fellow professinal ballroom dancer Aljaz Skorjanec. the pair quickly became Strictly’s golden couple after they marched down the aisle in 2017.
After eight years as a professional dance competition, she took over hosting duties on It Takes Two in 2021, just three years before they welcomed their adorable baby girl Lyra Rose last July. But Aljaz wasn’t the only dancer the Cuban-American entertainer dated on the BBC show.
She reportedly dated Pasha Kovalev when she joined the show
As the doting mum celebrates her 41st birthday with her nearest and dearest, Express.co.uk has taken a deep dive inside her love life before meeting the love of her life.
Before finding forever with Aljaz, Janette briefly dated Strictly legends Artem Chigvintsev and Pasha Kovalev. The brunette beauty reportedly had a whirlwind romance with when the pair joined the dance competition back in 2010.
However, their romance soon came to an end before the Russian dancer exited the show after four years. Before Artem, Janette shared a spark with the talented Pasha, as he danced across the Strictly stage for eight impressive series before bowing out in 2018.
Revealing details back in 2013, an insider told The Mirror: “She enjoyed a brief romance with Pasha. None of the relationships went very far or lasted for a long time.
The dancer also reportedly had a fling with Artem Chigvintsev
“Now they are all good friends and can laugh and joke about it, which is fortunate because they will be working very close together. Janette is obviously a very attractive woman but she’s very into Aljaz now.”
Both of Janette’s nostalgic flings, Artem and Pasha, have since found love themselves, with Pasha igniting a romance with his celeb partner Rachel Riley in the show’s eleventh series. The couple subsequently tied the knot in 2019 and welcomed two daughters years later.
Artem Chigvintsev wed Nikki Bella in August 2022 after partnering with her on Dancing with the Stars. The couple have also expanded their family after they welcomed a son in 2020.
However, their love wasn’t build to last adter Nikki filed for divorce in September. Artem was later arrested over alleged domestic violence in August but was subsequently cleared when charges were not pursued.
She and Sljaz have since welcomed a daughter named Lyra
He expressed his relief in a statement in September, which read: “I am incredibly relieved and grateful that the domestic violence charges against me have been dropped. This has been an extremely difficult time for me. I am thankful that the truth has prevailed.”
Janette, who hails from Miami, began her TV career on the US show So You Think You Can Dance before she moved across the pond to the UK in 2013.
Since then she has flourished professionally and has become a familiar face on the BBC reality show, but her commitment to the programme has caused it’s fair share of challenges whilst raising her daughter so far from home.
In an vulnerable interview with OK! the brunette beauty admitted that it ahs been hard raising a child so far away from their family. Janette’s famly still live in Miami while Aljaz’s live in Slovenia.
She told the outlet: “It’s very difficult. We have no one to help, so it’s all about future planning as much as possible. It’s a massive juggle.
“Right now, Aljaz and I are trying to figure out how we’re going to make it work with him being back on Strictly full time. His schedule is basically seven days a week and the hours are here, there and everywhere.”
“I know how hard it is doing Strictly, let alone doing it when you’re a parent. Lyra goes to nursery a couple of days a week, but planning childcare when Aljaz and I are both working and she is not in nursery can be very complicated; especially when we have no family around to help.”