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James and Ola Jordan emotional over baby Ella's new milestone - exclusive

Catch up on the Strictly stars' latest column


ola james jordan
Sophie Hamilton
Parenting Editor
June 17, 2021
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It's been a fun week for Ola and James Jordan and their little girl Ella, who had her very first playdate at home!

In our exclusive video below, the former Strictly dancers get emotional as their 15-month-old daughter makes a friend for the first time. It's a real tear-jerker, we promise you.

Due to lockdown, Ella has been at home with her parents for the last year, so having a child the same age come over to play was a big milestone.

MORE: 12 celebrity babies born in 2021: Princess Eugenie, Ellie Goulding & more

WATCH: Ella has her first playdate!

And there was more socialising for the couple, as they threw a grown-up party for friends on Saturday night at their stunning home in Kent - adhering to the COVID outdoor guidelines.

On James' Instagram Stories we saw an outdoor cinema, luxe beanbags, cocktail bar, fancy food and some late night swimming, which made us just a tad envious.

party© Photo: Instagram

James and Ola's very cool garden party

James tells us: "It was really good fun. It all got a bit messy at the end!" However, with a toddler in the house, there were no lie-ins.

"Ella was bouncing on our heads about quarter past four in the morning. It took about three days to get over that one," he adds.

Catch up on the Jordans' latest parenting column here…

Ella's first-ever playdate

It was a big day for sweet Ella, who had a new friend, Mabel, also fifteen months, over to play at her house.

"It was quite sweet, quite amazing," Ola tells us. "We've known Anthony since I was 15," says James. "He's an ex-dancer as well, so I've known him for a long time. His daughter Mabel is about 10 days younger than Ella."

MORE: Royal children's favourite hobbies revealed: George, Charlotte, Louis and more

View post on Instagram
 

Ola reveals: "When we heard that they had a little baby we thought, oh we've got to meet up - but because of the lockdowns and restrictions we couldn't meet for a long time.

"Ella has seen children at her baby music class before, but she's never seen a child in her house - so for Mabel to walk in and walk around, Ella was like wow!

When she was looking at Mabel, it was like she was thinking, 'There's another one like me with a tiny dress on and tiny shoes'. She was just so happy."

Ola's tears of joy

It was a huge occasion for Ella and for mum and dad too.

Ola says: "I got all emotional because they were both so happy to see each other. They came up to each other and grabbed each other. Ella was going, 'Ah!' with a smile on her face. It was really cute. I was teary."

playdate© Photo: Instagram

Ella and her new friend Mabel

"Then they were in the ball pit together throwing balls at each other. Ella wanted to chat, but Mabel didn't chat as much. They were fighting over the toy buggy so we had to get another buggy out – they were quite funny together."

James adds: "They weren't as interactive as I thought they'd be. Ella was still doing her own thing, but next to Mabel.

"Then we took them both in the swimming pool. I had to wear a T-shirt because I got so sunburnt on the day of the party. I've got more sensitive skin than a 15-month-old baby – it's a bit worrying, that!"

MORE: 9 photos of royal children with their cute baby siblings

swimming pool© Photo: Instagram

Ella with daddy in the pool

In the video, we see a very tired Ella slowly falling asleep on daddy's lap after her playdate.

"Ella was so exhausted after the playdate," tells Ola. We gave her a quick bottle and she was just gone! She was so cute just sitting there asleep."

Ella's teething too

You'd think after all that excitement, Ella would sleep right through the night, but unfortunately not.

"It looks like she's got all her teeth coming through – there are loads of little tooth buds coming through at the back," says Ola.

"Pretty much every night she's waking up. Last night she woke up at 12am, at 4am and then 6am. She's not been sleeping very well, I feel really tired."

jordan family© Photo: Instagram

The family-of-three by their pool

So do the parents ever grab a nap in the daytime to catch up on sleep?

"No, you're joking!" James says. "Ella doesn't sleep, does she? Half an hour if we're lucky! If we go on a motorway, she generally falls asleep." We feel your pain guys.

Starting to exercise again

Despite being sleep-deprived, Ola and James tell us that they're planning on getting fit.

"We're going to start training again," reveals James. "We keep talking about it. We've looked at some of the pictures of us and we look about 15 years older!"

Ola adds: "We are fit, we just need to start going to the gym again. We've been slacking basically."

ola james jordan out

Strictly stars Ola and James

James explains that it's hard to find time to workout when you have a baby to look after. Ola says: "It's like a circle for me… I don't want to train because I'm tired, then I eat badly because I'm tired and I want chocolate - so it's bad overall isn't it."

James agrees: "Yeah and sometimes you have to push yourself to do something that feels bad and then you feel better afterwards."

So what type of exercise do they like to do? "We do a lot of weights and a bit of cardio like running or cycling," says Ola.

James says he does "a lot of deadlifts, squats and bodyweight workouts. We have a gym at home, so we don't really have an excuse and we have a pool." Lucky things!

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