Jamie Borthwick: The Strictly 2024 contestant who won last year’s Christmas special

Soap star finds himself in a somewhat advantageous position over his fellow contestants

‘Strictly’ contestant Jamie Borthwick (BBC)

Jamie Borthwick’s appearance on this year’s Strictly Come Dancing might raise a few eyebrows.

After being one of the stars rumoured to have signed up to the BBC dancing competition, the EastEnders actor’s participation was confirmed in August.

However, his inclusion might frustrate purists of the show who believe contestants should not have prior dancing experience; Borthwick, 30, won the Strictly Christmas special alongside Nancy Xu in December 2023.

The couple performed the Quickstep and achieved the maximum 40 points from the judges.

Borthwick will appear on this year’s series alongside contestants including presenter Nick Knowles, singer Toyah Willcox and model and former Love Island star Tasha Ghouri.

The actor is best known for playing Jay Brown in BBC soap EastEnders – a role he has played since 2006, when he was just 14. His role on the series earned him a British Soap Award for “Best Dramatic Performance from a Young Actor or Actress” in 2008. His other TV credits include the Lee Mack sitcom Not Going Out.

Borthwick attended the Sylvia Young Theatre School, whose alumni included Daniel Kaluuya, Dua Lipa and Amy Winehouse.

In 2019, Borthwick joined a number of his fellow EastEnders co-stars in running the London Marathon to raise awareness for dementia in honour of Barbara Windsor. The Peggy Mitchell star died one year later. Earlier this year, he ran the London Marathon in character for a storyline raising awareness of brain tumours.

He has also regularly fielded rumours of a romance with his co-star Danielle Harold, who appeared on last year’s series of I’m a Celebrity.

Harold said of the speculation: “I’m just going to leave that one out there, because it’s so funny. It makes me laugh so much, I’d hate to squash it!”

The actor previously revealed he was asked to be on Strictly in 2018, but said the plan “didn’t work out”.

‘Strictly’ contestant Jamie Borthwick (BBC)

Speaking of his appointment, Borthwick said: “I had a ball doing the Strictly Christmas special last year, so when I was asked to join for this series it was the easiest yes!

“This is a fresh challenge and it will be so different to be learning a new dance every week and for the public to have their say.

“I’m hoping to be Salsa-ing around Albert Square in no time and I’ll be asking my Walford Strictly alumni for some words of wisdom. See you on the dancefloor!”

A formerStrictly contestant whose previous dance experience led to criticsim was musical theatre star Layton Williams, who was accused of having an unfair advantage of his other fellow contestants.

He said of the backlash in an interview: “I’ve taken it on the chin; I get what everyone’s saying. But if you could be a fly on the wall in this rehearsal room, it’s not easy for me.”