Strictly's Shayne Ward reveals adorable good luck charms

The singer and soap star carries two very special presents from his children to rehearsals and live shows.

Shayne Ward dancing with Nancy Xu on Strictly Come Dancing. (BBC)
Shayne Ward is a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing. (BBC)

Strictly Come Dancing contestant Shayne Ward has revealed the adorable good luck charms he carries with him to help him through the contest.

The former Coronation Street star has been given a lucky pair of ballet slippers by his seven-year-old daughter Willow and a dinosaur toy by his two-year-old son Reign. Ward — who turns 40 on Wednesday 16 October — took a moment on Strictly spin-off show It Takes Two to give a sweet shout out to his family and share the cute presents he was gifted by his children and now carries everywhere.

Shayne Ward showed off the lucky charms his kids have given him. (BBC Screengrab)
Shayne Ward showed off the lucky charms his kids have given him. (BBC Screengrab)

Ward and professional partner Nancu Xu were guests on the BBC Two show on Tuesday 15 October, to chat to host Fleur East about surviving the dance off against Nick Knowles on Sunday night.

Ward said: "For me, I think it's a gentle reminder that no one truly is safe and that the public vote really does count, you know? And I think a lot of a lot of people were saying, Well, you were middle of the table. Maybe people thought he was just safe because he was in the middle of the table. So maybe they didn't pick up the phone.

"Who knows? For me, it was a strange feeling, but and then I felt quite calm because I thought I've got another opportunity here to dance with Nancy again. And now I have a moment where the judges can really see if I've really been progressing. And I said to Nancy after we finished the dance, I prefer that because I realised I was a lot more relaxed and I had a lot more. But it was It was a really strange feeling."

At the end of the interview the team gave the former X Factor star was given a chocolate cake to mark his 40th birthday, which he shares with his twin sister Emma.

Read more: Strictly Come Dancing

He said: "I just say one more thing. I have some good luck charms very quick, and I just wanted to quickly mention So this is a pair of my daughter Willow's ballet shoes that she's given me as good luck. This is my son Reign's dinosaur as good luck, and this is obviously a courtesy of my children and my beautiful fiance, Sophie, who's been my absolute rock through all of this."

Ward shares his two children with former Hollyoaks actress Sophie Austin, who played Lindsey Butterfield in the soap. They announced their engagement in December 2017, a year after the birth of their first child Willow.

Dianne Buswell and Chris McCausland on Strictly Come Dancing. (BBC)
Dianne Buswell and Chris McCausland on Strictly Come Dancing. (BBC)

Chris McCausland called out professional dancer Dianne Buswell when she claimed the judges' scores did not matter to her as much as how good she feels about her own partner's performance. The pair discussed the success of their Australian-themed Salsa to Down Under by Men At Work on Saturday night's show, which was awarded a '6' from Australian-born judge Craig Revel Horwood.

Buswell said: "I honestly said to to Chris, hand on heart, if we had gotten a a four or a three from Craig, I still would have been happy, because if it didn't feel good, then I'd be upset. But because it felt so good and I was so happy with how we did it, for me, the feeling is worth more than any score."

But comedian McCausland interrupted: "This is absolute rubbish. Nonsense. I said the kangaroo hops was more important than the first tens, but a six or a seven is definitely more important than feeling good."

Strictly: It Takes Two airs on BBC Two at 6.30pm, Monday to Friday.

Strictly Come Dancing airs on BBC One at 6.25pm on Saturday.