Trolls say I’m too fat for Strictly & I don’t care, I’m having so much sex with incredibly hot people, says Jayde Adams

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IT seems clichéd to describe Jayde Adams as larger than life – but that is exactly what she is.

The 6ft 2in Strictly star is a huge presence as soon as she walks into the room for our Marilyn-Monroe-inspired shoot – and it’s not just her stature, but also her personality, which has you howling with laughter one minute and crying the next.

Jayde Adams is a huge presence as soon as she walks into the room for our Marilyn-Monroe-inspired shoot

Despite the horrific trolling she received, it’s fair to say that the comedian is loving life

She reveals ‘My career is going well, I’ve got a house and I’ve got the most incredibly interesting friends’ – pictured the star on Strictly

Despite exiting the show in week five and the horrific trolling she received along the way (more on this later), it’s fair to say that the comedian is loving life.

“My career is going well, I’ve got a house and I’ve got the most incredibly interesting friends. I’m lucky. And I have so much sex with incredibly attractive people. And that’s because I’m incredibly attractive,” she says. 

Though a big star on the comedy circuit, she was a relative unknown when paired with pro dancer Karen Hauer on this year’s Strictly Come Dancing.

Jayde, 37, who competed in disco-dancing competitions as a child, only agreed to do the show on the condition she was in a same-sex pairing.

She says: “I [disco] danced with a girl for 13 years, so it was very natural for me. Plus, I think Saturday-night viewers are OK with seeing two women dance together, but they’d be less favourable if I was dancing with a man and I was bigger than him.

“I’ve been watching the show for about 17 years and I’ve seen loads of fat women get absolutely panned for the way they look. I thought it would be less intense if I was the lead.”

Although there have been same-sex couples before, it’s the first time they’ve been heterosexual – although Jayde doesn’t like to think of it in those terms.

“I don’t really like labelling myself,” she explains. “I think once you’re in a box, it’s very hard to get yourself out of that.

“Harry Styles can be ambiguous about sexuality, so why can’t I? Who knows who I’ll end up with? I’ve been in all heterosexual relationships in my life, but as a lot of women are discovering now, perhaps there’s more to life than men…”

Everyone has their reason for wanting to be on Strictly, but for Jayde it was to help keep the memory of her little sister Jenna alive, after she died from a brain tumour aged 28, in 2011.

Jayde describes her as: “The person I loved the most in the world”, and the pair had a special relationship with dancing, having performed together as children.

The blonde beauty says ‘I have so much sex with incredibly attractive people’


She adds ‘I’ve been watching the show for about 17 years and I’ve seen loads of fat women get absolutely panned for the way they look’

“She is a massive reason for me to have gone on Strictly,” says Jayde. “She asked my mum: ‘Do you think people will forget me?’ And my mum was like: ‘Not as long as I live.’

“And we’ve been trying to keep that promise for the past 11 years. So getting Claudia [Winkleman] to say Jenna’s name on the show was so overwhelming for us.  

‘I’m f**king brilliant at comedy’

“People say things like: ‘She’s using [her sister’s death]’, and I’m like: ‘Yeah, we f**king are. She asked us to.’ I know there’s a slightly cynical aspect of it, that talking about her might elevate my status in some way.

“But actually, if you see me do comedy, you’ll realise why I’m where I am. Because I’m f**king brilliant at comedy. 

“I just have this added side to me that I have an incredibly emotional, traumatic, true story about a sister who loved me more than anyone in the world, who I lost.

“And it makes people connect to me. The way I’ve dealt with my grief has been very helpful to people who are going through it. We are s**t at dealing with death, but we’re all going to experience loss and  we’re not going to know how to cope with it.

“If I show people that you can cry and it’s absolutely fine to miss someone, and that helps them feel better, then why are we telling people that that’s wrong? So as far as I’m concerned, they can go f**k themselves.”

It’s clear to see how much Jenna means to Jayde. She pauses and rubs her eyes as she remembers her.

“I wish people had met her,” she says. “She was so loud, proud, loyal and kind  of scary. You wouldn’t f**k with my sister. I was picked on massively at school and  she was the most popular.

“This lad hit me in the stomach with a hockey stick in the playground, and she came charging through and they had a scrap. He hit her but didn’t leave a mark, so afterwards she said to me: ‘Can you punch me in the eye?’ She wanted to make sure he got into trouble.

“When I was working in a pub and she’d had an op, she’d say: ‘Call in sick. Tell them I had an epileptic seizure and I need you. Do it, you’re allowed.’ She hadn’t, but we’d watch The Jeremy Kyle Show together all day.” 

She sighs: “But I’m not using it – she asked us to keep her alive. So I am.”

‘Really refreshing experience’

Despite being voted off, Jayde has nothing but praise for Strictly, saying: “I’ve done shows before, and nothing holds a candle to the way that this show is run. We are so looked after, and in this industry, where so many people aren’t looked after, it’s incredible.

“You are totally taken care of. You cannot want for anything, which is what makes it easier for people to show vulnerability. In the last 10 years of being in this industry it’s not always like that.

“You think someone is going to be there for you, but what they want is to manipulate and control you. Strictly doesn’t do that. It was a really refreshing experience.”

One of the best things about it has been the new group of friends she’s made, and she’s become particularly close to Karen and fellow contestant, TV presenter Helen Skelton.

“Helen has become a surprisingly very good friend of mine,” she says.

“I didn’t know if we’d have much in common, because she’s got three kids. Like, no one I know has children. But actually, we have so much in common. Our mums and dads are really similar.

“And she’s experiencing something in her life right now. [Helen’s eight-year-long marriage to Richie Myler ended in April, just four months after she gave birth to their third child together]. And I’m experiencing something in my life now. The two of us have come together at the right time in our friendship.”

Reflecting on her week five exit, she says: “I was sad for it to be over, but to be honest, my osteopath said I probably wouldn’t have been able to do it much longer anyway.

“I can carry a fridge by myself, but doing 96 lifts in a week, I probably needed to rest my back. Physically now though, I’m the fittest I’ve been in years, so I feel fantastic.”

Thankfully for Jayde there was no Strictly Curse for her to worry about and despite many websites reporting she is married – she “tied the knot” with her gay best friend in an inflatable church at the top of Robin Hill on the Isle Of Wight – the Bristolian is resolutely single.

She says: “I was a bit sad on the Monday [after she left the show] and my gay husband Clayton Wright scooped me up and took me to Corinthia London Spa and we had an entire day there, then we went to Claridges for tea.

“I’ve never had a boyfriend do that. Never. There’s not a single man in my life who has thought to scoop me up and take me somewhere. I have been taking care of men my entire dating history, so I can’t be trusted. We women naturally like to save and nurture.

‘I make better friends than I do relationships’

“But I’ve got to save myself now. I make better friends than I do relationships, so that is enough for me.”

The comedian has no interest in dating right now. She says: “I don’t actually [want to be in a relationship]. I’m fine. I bought a house by myself. My neighbour said to me: ‘Oh, it’s great what you and your parents have been able to achieve.’

“I said: ‘Not my parents.’ And she said: ‘Oh, you and your husband,’ and I said: ‘No, just me. I made this house happen.’ She was really startled. But I’ve earned it and I’m proud of it.”  

Throughout the Strictly experience, Jayde was horrifically trolled online over her appearance, but she has no intention of letting it get to her. 

“It’s our responsibility as adults not to focus on our weight when we are talking to women, and to call them ‘clever and brilliant’ not ‘beautiful and fit’ and praising people for weight loss,” she says. “Since Strictly, people say: ‘Oh you’ve lost weight, well done.’ Well done? What was wrong with me before?”

Jaye tied the knot with her gay best friend Clayton Wright in an inflatable church

Jayde competed in disco-dancing competitions as a child

Her biggest concern, she says, is the way women treat each other. 

“I’ve had a lot of women on the internet say disparaging things about my weight,” she says. “This is because women have been taught being fat is a terrible thing, and there I am on TV with my big, fat thighs, dancing to Flashdance and not giving a f**k. And it’s not who you expect – it’s nice women from the Isle of Wight who wear hats, like sailing and have ‘Help Ukraine’ in their bios. 

“They’re angry at me because they’re sat at home bored off their tits, dog walking and painting, while I’m on the telly living my best life. So of course they’re gonna say something on the internet. I don’t take this stuff lying down. There’s only one thing I do lying down, and it ain’t listening to bullies,” she laughs. 

“I held my sister’s head as she was dying. There’s nothing that anyone on the internet can say that’s worse than experiencing that. Anyway, people’s logic is stupid, saying I’m ‘too fat for Strictly’. And it’s always women.

“Shirley Ballas is ‘too old’ while she’s sat next to Craig [Revel Horwood] and Anton [du Beke] who don’t get told that. I’m too fat, but Hamza [Yassin, wildlife presenter and Strictly contestant] rarely gets told that. All the females on the show have something that is picked apart, while the males get to be who they want to be. It’s not Strictly’s fault – it’s the world at large.

“The more women do great jobs and the more women we put in power, the better society will be.”

It’s something she’s seen first-hand in the comedy industry too, with the lack of spots for female comedians generating an atmosphere of competitive mistrust. 

 “The worst experiences I’ve had in comedy have been with other women,” she says. I blame the comedy industry entirely. For so long, there was only one seat on a panel show for a woman. This has bred a competitive element in comedy that I don’t feel a part of.

“I turn up to comedy wanting to have a nice time, and some women have been so standoffish. It’s a difficult industry for women. It’s got better now. Change is a slow process.”

Despite her determination to rise above the trolling, Jayde admits it has sometimes stung – particularly when it’s affected her mum Gail. 

“It’s so bad, my mum cried to me on the phone and wondered why people would say such horrible things about me and my body – and why they would troll my sister who died,” she says. 

“Those people upset a woman who is still grieving for her child, so I hope they are happy. All because I dared to go on a TV show on a Saturday night and get my body out and not care.

“They want to bring me down and take away my confidence, but that is never going to happen.” 

  • Tickets for Jayde’s 2023 stand-up show Men, I Can Save You are available from Jaydeadams.com.