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Strictly's Jamie Laing actually studied dance at university

Does he have an advantage…?

jamie laing
Jenni McKnight
US Lifestyle Editor
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He's busy rehearsing for his upcoming appearance in Strictly Come Dancing – but as it turns out, Jamie Laing may not need as much help on the dancefloor as his fellow celebrities… It's been revealed that the Made in Chelsea star actually studied dance at the University of Leeds! In an unearthed interview from The Greatest Dancer podcast, Jamie revealed that he studied contemporary dance for a year as part of his theatre and performance degree.

"When it came to finally enrolling in my course, people had already picked what they wanted to do and the only thing that was left was contemporary dance," Jamie admitted. "So for the whole first year, I had to do contemporary dance. As I was the only boy, I had to be the bulb in the flowers and all the girls were petals." But the 30-year-old did insist that his skills were not up to standard, and the course actually put him off dancing.

MORE: BBC reveals one MAJOR change to the Strictly line-up this year

jamie laing© Photo: Getty Images

Jamie studied contemporary dance for one year

He added: "All of my friends were sitting in the front row and they were all laughing at me and I thought 'this sucks', so my experience of dance has been skewed a bit by that. It was the worst thing in the world, I'd wake up every day and think 'why have I done this.'"

MORE: Everything you need to know about Strictly 'contestant' Anneka Rice

Jamie's year of dance experience might not give him an advantage in Strictly though, as according to him, there isn't much skill involved in the genre. "There is no technique to contemporary dance," he explained. "You can do anything you want… I feel like if you’re given some ribbons and you roll about on the floor, everyone is going to be like, 'that is contemporary.'"

Considering contemporary has been added to the roster of Strictly dances, we think Jamie may have a change of heart if he makes it that far...

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