Ola Jordan

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Ola Jordan
Born Aleksandra Grabowska
(1982-09-30) 30 September 1982 (age 41)
Nasielsk, Poland
Residence Maidstone, Kent, England
Occupation Dancer
Spouse(s) James Jordan (2003–present)

Aleksandra "Ola" Jordan (née Grabowska; born 30 September 1982[1]) is a professional ballroom dancer. She appeared as a professional on the British TV show Strictly Come Dancing from 2006 to 2015. After winning a championship event in her native Poland, Ola moved to England and began a new partnership with James Jordan. They married on 12 October 2003[2] and live near Maidstone in Kent.[3]

Dancing career

Ola has been dancing since the age of twelve when her school advertised for a dance club. Before dancing with James Jordan, she had danced with Przemek Lowicki in Poland. She won Poland's Open Championships in 1999 and went on to take 12th place in the following year's World Championships.[2]

The first recorded dance by Ola Grabowska and James Jordan as a partnership was in the Dutch Open in 2000, [4] though they did not turn professional until 2003. The couple withdrew for a while to teach Latin American dancing in Hong Kong, though they turned professional again in 2005, after missing competing.[5][6] In May 2006, the couple came second in the Blackpool Professional Rising Stars Latin event,[7] and in November they came third in the British Championships for Professional Latin.[8]

Strictly Come Dancing

Jordan first appeared on Strictly Come Dancing during the show's fourth series in 2006, partnering DJ Spoony. They were eliminated in the third round, a result which disappointed some of the audience. In series five she danced with Scottish rugby player Kenny Logan while her husband James danced with Kenny's wife, TV presenter Gabby Logan. Kenny was voted out of the show on the ninth week[9] while Gabby Logan was voted out earlier, in the fourth week.[10] Jordan was knocked out of series 6 in week seven of the competition, with her partner GMTV presenter Andrew Castle.

In January–February 2009 Jordan danced with Kenny Logan on the Strictly Come Dancing Tour and in series 7, she partnered reporter Chris Hollins, reaching the final and beating rivals Ricky Whittle and Natalie Lowe to become the 2009 champions. Their prize was a Strictly Come Dancing glitter ball. Jordan and Hollins became affectionately known as "Team Cola" by viewers and on the show, with Cola being a portmanteau of "Chris" and "Ola".[11] Jordan partnered magician Paul Daniels in the eighth season of the show; they were the second couple to be voted off. For Children in Need 2010, Jordan partnered Harry Judd from McFly for a one-off Strictly special, dancing a Paso Doble. The couple won, beating Rochelle Wiseman of The Saturdays and her partner Ian Waite.

In the ninth series of the show she was partnered with former Wales international footballer Robbie Savage. They were the ninth couple voted out on 4 December 2011.[12]

In September 2012, during the show's tenth series, Jordan was partnered with EastEnders actor Sid Owen. The couple were eliminated on Halloween week in October 2012.

For the eleventh series in September 2013, Jordan competed with former Hollyoaks actor and singer Ashley Taylor Dawson. They got as far as the 11th week before being voted out.

In September 2014, for the show's twelfth series, Jordan was partnered with wildlife expert, presenter of the popular children's show Deadly 60 and its spinoffs, Steve Backshall. They were eliminated in week 9 (22/23 November 2014).

On 5 September 2015, Strictly Come Dancing revealed Jordan would dance with sports commentator and Olympic medalist Iwan Thomas for the upcoming thirteenth series.[13] They were the first couple to leave the competition on 4 October 2015. Shortly after their elimination Jordan announced this was to be her last series of 'Strictly Come Dancing' as she would not be returning in the following series. She made her last appearance when she was featured in a group dance for the Series 13 Final.[14]

DJ Spoony

Week No. Dance/Song Judges' score Result
Horwood Phillips Goodman Tonioli Total
1 Cha-Cha-Cha /"Kiss" 5 7 8 7 27 Safe
2 Tango / "Tango D'Amour" 6 7 7 7 27 Eliminated

Kenny Logan

Week No. Dance/Song Judges' score Result
Horwood Phillips Goodman Tonioli Total
1 Waltz /"Are You Lonesome Tonight" 4 5 6 6 21 Bottom two
3 Tango /"Call Me" 6 6 7 6 25 Safe
4 Samba / "Mujer Latina" 3 4 6 5 18 Safe
5 Paso Doble / "Take Me Out" 4 5 6 6 21 Safe
6 Viennese Waltz / "Flower of Scotland" 5 7 8 6 26 Safe
7 Cha-Cha-Cha / "Billie Jean" 4 5 7 6 22 Safe
8 American Smooth / "How Sweet It Is" 6 8 8 8 30 Safe
9 Foxtrot / "They Can't Take That Away From Me
Rumba / "Fields of Gold"
7
4
7
5
8
7
8
7
30
23
Eliminated

Andrew Castle

Week No. Dance/Song Judges' score Result
Horwood Phillips Goodman Tonioli Total
1 Cha-Cha-Cha / "Mercy" 4 6 7 6 23 Safe
3 Tango / "20th Century Boy" 4 6 7 5 22 Safe
5 American Smooth / "You Know I'm No Good" 3 4 5 5 17 Safe
6 Viennese Waltz / "Annie's Song" 5 8 7 7 27 Safe
7 Samba / "Ain't It Funny" 4 5 7 5 21 Eliminated

Chris Hollins

Week No. Dance/Song Judges' score Result
Horwood Bussell* Goodman Dixon Tonioli
1 Tango / "Sharp Dressed Man" 6 7 7 6 26
Rumba / "Don't Know Much" 7 8 8 7 30
3 Quickstep / "Dancing Fool" 5 6 6 6 23
4 Salsa / "Micaela" 6 7 6 6 25
5 Jive / "Roll Over Beethoven" 5 6 6 5 22
6 American Smooth / "Jimmy Mack" 7 7 7 7 28
7 Cha-Cha-Cha / "Shake Your Groove Thing" 7 8 7 7 29
8 Foxtrot / "I Could Have Danced All Night" 8 9 9 8 34
9 Paso Doble / "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" 6 8 9 7 30
10 Viennese Waltz / "A New Day Has Come" 7 7 8 7 29
11 Charleston / "Fat Sam's Grandslam" 8 8 9 9 34
12 Waltz / "At This Moment" 8 8 8 9 8 41
Samba / "Cuba" 8 8 8 8 7 39
13 Rumba / "Total Eclipse of the Heart" 7 7 8 8 8 38
Argentine Tango / "Bust Your Windows" 8 8 9 9 8 42
14 Foxtrot / "I Could Have Danced All Night" 9 9 9 10 9 46
Lindy Hop / "Sing Sing Sing" 8 9 9 9 9 44
Charleston / "Fat Sam's Grandslam" 10 10 10 10 10 50
Showdance / "Do You Love Me" 9 9 9 10 9 46 – Winners
  • Darcey Bussell joined the judging panel for the last 3 weeks of the show.

Paul Daniels

Week No. Dance/Song Judges' score Result
Horwood Goodman Dixon Tonioli Total
1 Cha-Cha-Cha / "Could It Be Magic" 2 5 5 4 16 N/A
2 Foxtrot / "Lady Luck" 4 6 6 5 21 Safe
3 Rumba / "Take a Bow" 2 5 5 4 16 Eliminated

Robbie Savage

Week No. Dance/Song Judges' score Result
Horwood Goodman Dixon Tonioli Total
1 Cha-Cha-Cha / "Bad Boys" 2 6 6 5 19 Safe
2 Foxtrot / "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?" 7 8 7 7 29 Safe
3 Tango / "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)" 7 7 8 8 30 Safe
4 Jive / "Love Man" 5 8 7 7 27 Safe
5 Paso Doble / "Bad" 4 7 8 7 26 Safe
6 Waltz / "Love Ain't Here Anymore" 6 8 8 7 29 Safe
7 American Smooth / "Sway" 7 8 8 8 31 Safe
8 Salsa / "Let Me Entertain You" 5 7 7 7 26 Safe
9 Samba / "You Sexy Thing" 5 7 7 6 25 Safe
10 Quickstep / "Little Green Bag" 7 7 8 8 30 Eliminated

Sid Owen

Week No. Dance/Song Judges' score Result
Horwood Bussell Goodman Tonioli Total
1 Waltz / "I Won't Give Up" 6 6 7 7 26 Safe
2 Salsa / "Hips Don't Lie" 6 6 5 5 22 Safe
3 Tango / "Here I Go Again" 4 4 5 4 17 Safe
4 Cha-Cha-Cha / "Ghostbusters" 2 5 5 5 17 Eliminated

Ashley Taylor Dawson

Week No. Dance/Song Judges' score Result
Horwood Bussell Goodman Tonioli Total
1 Cha-Cha-Cha / "What Makes You Beautiful" 5 6 7 7 25 Safe
2 American Smooth / "Beyond the Sea" 7 9 8 8 32 Safe
3 Samba / "Love Is in the Air" 8 8 7 8 31 Safe
4 Viennese Waltz / "Angel" 7 8 8 8 31 Safe
5 Jive / "Johnny B. Goode" 7 8 8 8 31 Safe
6 Tango / "Beautiful Monster" 8 9 8 8 33 Safe
7 Quickstep / "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" 8 9 9 9 35 Safe
8 Paso Doble / "You Give Love a Bad Name" 8 9 9 9 35 Safe
9 Waltz / "I Will Always Love You" 8 9 9 9 35 Safe
10 Rumba / "A Whole New World" 8 9 9 9 35 Bottom two
11 Salsa / "Conga" 8 9 9 9 35 Eliminated

|

Steve Backshall

Week No. Dance/Song Judges' score Result
Horwood Bussell Osmond* Goodman Tonioli Total
1 Tango / "Born to Be Wild" 6 6 - 7 7 26 Safe
2 Cha-Cha-Cha / "Treasure" 3 6 - 6 6 21 Safe
3 Quickstep / "I Wan'na Be Like You" 6 7 6 7 8 34 Safe
4 Salsa / "Jump in the Line (Shake, Senora)" 6 7 - 7 7 27 Safe
5 Waltz / "I Wonder Why" 7 8 - 7 8 30 Safe
6 Charleston / "Dem Bones" 5 7 - 7 7 26 Safe
7 Paso Doble / "Use Somebody" 6 8 - 7 7 28 Safe
8 American Smooth / "Rolling in the Deep" 7 8 - 8 8 31 Safe
9 Jive / "Little Bitty Pretty One" 4 7 - 6 6 23 Eliminated
  • Donny Osmond joined the judging panel for Movie Week in Week 3.

Iwan Thomas

Week No. Dance/Song Judges' score Result
Horwood Bussell Goodman Tonioli Total
1 Tango / "Keep on Running" 3 5 5 4 17 None
2 Cha-Cha-Cha / "Sexy and I Know It" 2 4 4 3 13 Eliminated

Other television appearances

Ola and James Jordan took part in a celebrity version of television programme Total Wipeout which was broadcast on 26 December 2009. She and Strictly Come Dancing head judge Len Goodman appeared as a team in the BBC programme Bargain Hunt in 2010 for the benefit of the Children in Need appeal. Ola and James Jordan also took part in the judging panel on the television show Dancing on Wheels in 2010, and the couple also appeared on All Star Mr & Mrs in 2013, where they won the show. Ola and James appeared on an episode of Through the Keyhole in September 2015, as celebrity homeowners.

In December 2014, Jordan was announced as one of the celebrity competitors for the C4 series The Jump, a television show which requires celebrities to compete in events such as skeleton, ski jumping, bobsled, slalom, and ski cross.[15] While practicing for the series, Jordan fell during a training run.[16] The resulting injury forced Jordan to withdraw from The Jump and prevented her from participating in the Series 12 finale of Strictly Come Dancing.[16] The fall caused Jordan to suffer a torn ligament in her knee, an injury which required Jordan to undergo surgery.[17]

References

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External links

Preceded by Strictly Come Dancing Champion
(with partner Chris Hollins)

Series 7 (2009)
Succeeded by
Kara Tointon and Artem Chigvintsev