After Strictly Come Dancing's revamp saw Janette Manrara leaving the sister show, It Takes Two, as a host, the dancing pro has turned to the world of acting.
Landing a role opposite Stranger Things star Noah Schnapp, the multi-talented star opened up about instantly connecting with her castmate, celebrating her period of 'reinvention' and balancing motherhood with a demanding rehearsal schedule...
What does this current chapter feel like to you as an artist and as a mother?
I've named this whole version of my life "The Reinvention." There is something about being in your 40s- - it happens a lot, you know, where women in their 40s realise, "We've had our child, we've had our life, we've had a career."
Something seems to happen always around this age, and I feel like in more ways than one it's happened for me. I think I've never been more sure of who I am. They say that as you get older, you know more and more and you care less and less!
© Justine MatthewAnd I really feel like that. I really feel that now this reinvention phase as a mother, in my career, in my marriage, is so powerful because I just know who I am, I know what I want, I know the things that I'm going to put my energy into, the things that I'm not going to waste my energy on, the boundaries, the healthy boundaries that I need to set in certain situations. And I just feel really excited about the future.
Tell me about the new show
It's about privilege; it's about power dynamics. It's about generational responsibility. The actions that we take at a certain point in our lives that you think don't have consequences, and they do have consequences, maybe even for our children and our children's children down the line. So it's a generational approach to what our mistakes and our actions can do.
© Justine MatthewAnd then a lot of power dynamic struggle. It's based on two events of a situation that happened of a young boy who was drinking and driving and made a big mistake, and then it carries on into the story of what happened with that. I like it because it really makes you ask questions.
It's a big change for you! What made you want to do it?
I've always acted. I was a thespian in high school. Dancing was always my hobby on the side. And then that part of my career just took off. I did So You Think You Can Dance, and that led me to do Burn the Floor, travelled around the world, and then that led me to Strictly.
I lived in LA, did Glee, and so that just took over so acting took a back foot. Then I started presenting. Again, it just flowed through - I started presenting, doing It Takes Two through Strictly, and Morning Live. So in my life, I always ride the wave. As long as I'm enjoying it and I'm curious about it, I go for it.
© Justine MatthewA dream of mine was to play Roxie Hart in Chicago, and I got to do it last year. And I really remembered and forgot how much I love to act! It was like the light bulb went off again, and I said to my agent, "I really want to dip my fingers back into the acting world. I forgot how much I enjoyed dissecting a character and finding the backstory and creating everything for a role."
It was divine timing - this play fell into my lap and I read it, and I met with the director and playwright, Andy Sandberg, and I said to him, "I love the play, I love the story, I love the way that you play with all the characters. Please use me!" And he's like, "I'd love to have you." And it was just synchronicity of just divine timing.
Would you ever like to star in Cabaret?
Oh, don't! I have manifested it, I put it on my mood board! I was like, "I am coming for Sally Bowles, somebody let me in! They're not going to be able to get rid of me!" It's on my bucket list.
And you were on Glee!
Glee was just so much fun. I was part of Vocal Adrenaline, which is the rival team of Glee. If you blink, you miss me, because Vocal Adrenaline only came in to do the competition. I did the big "Bohemian Rhapsody" scene with Jonathan Groff, so I know Jonathan Groff really well.
© FOX Image Collection via Getty IThey did two different Glee tours across the USA and I got to do the tours as well with the cast, which was really fun. I was in heaven. You get to sing and dance and act all in one, so it was amazing.
It's a shame as unfortunately, we've lost some cast members, which is really, really sad, but we'll forever have all those beautiful memories and episodes. It was just such a wonderful show to be a part of.
How has it been working with Noah Schnapp?
Oh my gosh, he's become very quickly like my little brother! We have a really fun scene that I don't want to give away - there's one scene in the play that is a tiny bit lighter than the rest, and it's with him.
I remember the first day that we ran the scene, we just immediately had chemistry. I feel like we were two peas in a pod. And he loves to dance, which I didn't know until I met him how much he loves to dance! So when he found out I was a dancer, a professional dancer, he was like, "Oh my god, we need to do all the dances on TikTok!"
© Justine MatthewWe connected through a love of dance, and then doing the scene with him for the first time, immediately there were sparks and there was chemistry. And he's just so lovely!
He's been in this massive, massive TV show, Stranger Things, got millions and millions and millions upon followers, he's been seen by everyone all over the world. And if you meet him, he's just like the average, nicest guy next door. Curious, kind, friendly, says hello to everyone, walks in the room and just lights it up with a big, gorgeous smile. He's phenomenal, and an incredible actor!
There's no one main part, but he is the story of the play. And he's just doing such a brilliant job. To be honest with you, I sit in the room and I pinch myself because everyone is so talented in the cast. This is my first serious play that I've ever done, so I'm in there like a sponge, taking it all in, watching how everybody works, and just admiring and feeling inspired… I still can't believe that I'm in that bunch, is what I'm trying to say! They're all so phenomenal.
Do you feel like you have imposter syndrome?
I don't have imposter syndrome, I just feel like, "Am I going to wake up from this dream? Is this really happening?!" I'm just so happy.
© Justine MatthewYou've lived in the UK for a long time now. Are you going to show Noah some of the sights?
In a way, he reminds me of me when I first came to the UK! I remember coming and being so excited to see and do everything. I did the entire red bus tour on my own! And I did Buckingham Palace on my own, and then I did the Changing of the Guard.
With Noah, I'm like, "You've got to check this out, and you've got to go there." But he's also got loads of his friends, cast members, that live in London as well. It's just so nice to feel a little bit like his big sister. We just really get on. We came to each other in that first day that we met, he was one of the first people I spoke to.
How are you balancing your family life and little Lyra with the rehearsals?
Oh, I mean, it's a forever battle. It's really tough because I just came from having a lot of time off. We had summer, and Aljaž [Skorjanec] and I did a few things here and there, but it was like days at a time, nothing major that takes up months of our time. So we went from spending so much time together as a family to now Aljaž is obviously quite busy with Strictly, I'm busy with the play.
Juggling the schedule has been a real logistical nightmare! But we've got a team, we've got a flow. We have a nanny, we call her Auntie now, because she's just part of the family. She's been with us and with Lyra since she was eight months old.
She's just really holding the fort and helping us. Lyra goes to nursery as well. It's tough, but I try to make sure that wherever I am, I am fully present. So if I'm home, I'm really disconnected from work and I'm just focused on Lyra, just focused on being with her and doing things around the house. And if I am at work, as much as I miss her, I try to compartmentalise that so I can really focus on my job and do a good job with the play.
You cannot possibly be in seven places at one time. So wherever you are at—at least that's the way I approach it—wherever you are at, give that your full attention. It seems to be working.
You know who gave me that advice was Sara Davies! We're really close friends, and I just see how she does it. She's such an incredible mother and obviously a huge, sensational businesswoman. And we got to talking, and her advice right before Lyra was born, her advice was very much, "Just make sure that wherever you are, you're just fully there, because you're going to feel guilty if you're at work without your baby, and then you're going to feel guilty that you're not at work because you're with your baby, so you might as well just stick to what you're doing and don't put pressure on yourself."
You know, Lyra will cry sometimes for five minutes when I leave, and then as soon as she's fine, it's "Who's Mommy?" She forgets!
What do you think about the Strictly changes?
I think it's great! Obviously, once we found out that Tess and Claudia were stepping down, it was a good time to change. So I think it's a very good thing that they've decided to make so many changes to the professionals and the presenters.
© Ken McKay/ITV/ShutterstockI'm very happy that Aljaž is still in there because I love watching him dance! I would have been really sad if he wasn't still there. And Lyra's getting older, she's getting to that point now where she really recognises Daddy and she really gets into the scoring, so it's nice that we still get that with him. I think the lineup is phenomenal, celebrities look great. I'm happy for everyone.
Is Lyra becoming a little dancer?
She is! And I think she wants to be a judge more than anything else! She'll play at home and she'll like to get her bag and her makeup and like her fake jewelry and stuff, and I go, "Where are you going?" She's like, "Mommy, I'm going to work." And I say, "Where do you work?" And she says, "Strictly Come Dancing." And I go, "What do you do at Strictly Come Dancing?" And she goes, "Ten!"
© InstagramYou should get her like a toy version of all the paddles!
Like a fake judge's desk and get her to start putting up her own scores!
Affluenza is currently running at Riverside Studios from until 21 November
