Bobby Brazier, the EastEnders star and son of Jade Goody, has shared his feelings about losing his mum when he was just five years old.
In a touching interview with The Mirror, Bobby revealed: "If I could see her again for one moment, I'd tell her, 'Thank you' and give her a cuddle."
Tonight, 20 year old Bobby and his Strictly Come Dancing partner Dianne Buswell, 34, will perform a special tribute to Jade, who sadly passed away from cervical cancer in March 2009, aged 27.
Their Couple's Choice routine is set to This Woman's Work by Maxwell – a song that holds a lot of meaning for Bobby.
Before the show, Bobby explained why this song is so important to him.
He said: "To me, this song is just perfect. My dad used to play it when I was young, maybe about eight or nine, and it was really impactful for me. The lyrics are really profound. Maxwell sings, 'I should be crying, but I just can't let it show', and when I was younger, I'd never cry… I'd never let myself feel vulnerable enough."
"For me, this dance is about the difference between the vulnerability of being honest with yourself, and allowing yourself to grow through love. Or doing what's easy, and being angry and resentful because it's too hard to change. My experience of that has been through the loss of my mum but as humans, I think we all experience those things, so I think everyone can relate to it."
When Big Brother favourite Jade passed away, her ex Jeff Brazier promised to give their sons, Bobby and Freddie, then four, a normal upbringing. And as Bobby performs tonight, TV presenter Jeff, 44, will be in the audience alongside Freddie, 19.
Bobby had said earlier: "Dad will be in the audience and I think he will get emotional, I think it's going to be a flood from him. I don't think I'll find it hard but I definitely hope I find it emotional. I'm going to embrace that and try to enjoy it."
"I want to be open to where the dance and the song takes us." Dianne added: "This has been a really emotional week but not in a, 'I can't do it' way, in a lovely way. Because this song is so special to Bobby, it instantly became really special for me as well."
"We've been working together so closely in the last 10 weeks, that I feel Bobby's emotions and he feels mine. So I also really feel close to this song and I've loved dancing the piece. I've loved the choreography… I've just really enjoyed it."
The close friendship between the pair, both on and off the dance floor, has sparked rumours of a real-life romance. However, Dianne, who is dating her former Strictly partner Joe Sugg, laughed off the speculation.
"That happens every year, it's just part of it," she chuckled. Bobby added with a grin: "Especially when we're both so good-looking."
Off the dance floor, Bobby has been linked to on/off love interest Tillie Amarte who is appearing in the Strictly Christmas Special this year and Scarlett Taylor-Sheridan, who recently joined his brother Freddie in the show audience. But when asked about his connection to the two women, Bobby insisted: "I have no girlfriend."
Instead, he seems to be focusing on Dianne, and throwing himself into training as the final stages of the contest approach.
Last week, the pair found themselves in the dance-off after an energetic jive to George Michael's Wake Me Up Before You Go Go in Blackpool. But Dianne was adamant that the near-miss which saw Angela Rippon voted off would not be holding them back.
She said: "It's true that we are very grateful to still be here this is a routine we might not have been doing, so there is gratitude there. But it doesn't necessarily have to make things harder. We've had a really good week."
Bobby shared: "I wanted to take risks this week and prosper. I didn't want our Couple's Choice to be an easy route I wanted it to be a new challenge. And I wanted it to be beautiful, to have an impact on the people who are watching. I wanted them to come on the journey with us."
When asked about his Strictly experience, he said: "I've always described it as an experience of immense joy and deep distress. It's become everything, everything for months, and I've never experienced anything this intense for this long.
"But you do get used to it. I think the show has changed me… it's made me understand what it is to work this hard. And I'm so surprised by everyone's resilience, including my own, because the pressure is just constant.
"My resilience seems to grow every week, but that's courtesy of Dianne, because she is the most resilient person ever and has become my best friend. I can't wait to go out on the dance floor this week, embrace the emotion and be open to where the dance and the song takes us."
Strictly Come Dancing: The Results is on BBC One on Sunday at 7.15pm.
* This article was crafted with the help of an AI engine, which speeds up OK!'s editorial research and applies it to article templates created by journalists in our newsrooms. An OK! editor reviewed this content before it was published. You can report any errors to [email protected]
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