This year, Strictly Come Dancing features two same-sex couples, with Richie Anderson and Giovanni Pernice representing the boys while Karen Hauer Wyn-Jones and Jayde Adams are doing it for the girls.
Bristolian comedian Jayde, 37, originally told BBC bosses that she didn't mind being paired with either a male or female pro, but is thrilled to be with a woman because 'boys ain't strong enough' to lift her.
Speaking to the Mirror and other news outlets, she explained "I'm so excited to be with Karen... It does give me an advantage now because I can lift her. If I was with a guy - it ain't my fault, but none of them are rugby player ballroom dancers, are they?
"So it means that I'll be able to do all of the acrobatic stuff now, which is something I'm super excited about doing because I've got loads of upper body strength and she is so athletic and strong!
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Image:
BBC/Guy Levy)Image:
BBC)"I picked her up when we first met and she went round my waist like a backpack! She's a spider monkey. We're two strong women in totally different ways - our partnership is going to be really exciting."
Jayde will be cheered on every step of the way by her husband of 15 years, Clayton Wright, an event director and creative producer specialising in LGBTQI+ events, founder of the Body Movements festival.
The couple live in Bedminster, Bristol, where she was born, and are in the middle of renovating a Victorian terrace to its former glory.
When she was younger, Jayde took part in disco dancing competitions with her late sister Jenna, who sadly died from a brain tumour in 2011.
Image:
clayton_wright_ /Instagram)Two years older than Jayde, it was Jenna who looked out for her little sister at school and in life, and her passing left Jayde unsure of 'who or what' she was.
The tragic chapter started when Jenna suffered a seizure out of the blue. Doctors found a tumour in her brain and removed half of it, giving Jenna another six years of life.
And it was during Jenna's illness that Jayde first realised she was funny.
She told the Guardian: "I was in the hospital with my family, who were all looking really sad while Jenna was in bed. When they popped out to speak to the doctor, Jenna grabbed my hand – quite aggressively, I'll be honest – and said: "Can you start making everyone laugh? They're all looking at me like I'm about to die and it's doing my nut in." So that's what I did. I started making jokes. And I haven’t stopped since."
Image:
clayton_wright_ /Instagram)What she did stop doing, however, was dancing. Struggling to cope with her loss, Jayde toured drag Shakespeare around Spain, but she couldn't escape her heartbreak.
"I was an absolute mess for about three years after her death," she continued. "I wasn’t sure what I was doing and felt a bit lost.
"She was the most alluring person in any room. She couldn’t pretend to be anything other than what she was. Which was an absolute firecracker."
Now returning to the ballroom for the first time, Jayde said she thinks fans will be surprised by her skills.
"When I danced with my sister, I was the base and I used to lift her all the time," she said.
"I've got a very obvious handicap, but I have got rhythm... on top of all the muscle memory that I've got inside of me, which is really important."
*Strictly continues tonight at 6.30pm on BBC One
