I holidayed with James & Ola Jordan…cracks showed 2 years ago with jokes about Strictly curse, teary moment & ‘wasp’ gag

WHEN James and Ola Jordan announced their 23-year marriage was over last week, heartbroken Strictly fans were left in disbelief. But I was far from shocked, having holidayed with the couple in Turkey two years ago, and spotted the signs their relationship was seemingly becoming strained. James and Ola Jordan announced their split at the weekend, after 23 years of marriage Credit: Rex Hayley Minn holidayed with them at the Anda Barut Collection in Bodrum, Turkey, in 2024 – and says the signs were there even then Credit: Hayley Minn In May 2024, I spent four days at the Anda Barut Collection in Bodrum, Turkey, for the opening weekend of the hotel, where many athletes and Strictly stars, including James and Ola, were also holidaying and running fitness classes. I had dinner with James and Ola, along with former Strictly pro Ian Waite, attended a dance class led by them, and would see them around the pool or at the ice cream parlour with their daughter Ella, who was four at the time, where they’d stop and chat. I also did a sit-down interview with them for The Sun, with Ella in tow, in which they discussed the Strictly curse, Ola said it’s a “miracle” they’re still together, and the couple joked about James’ wandering eye more than once. Those were just some of the signs I spotted that the couple’s marriage was seemingly on the rocks during that holiday in Turkey – but there were six in total… During the sit-down chat I had with James and Ola, they spoke about how they’d been together for 25 years – and married for 20 – so I asked them what the secret to their happy relationship was. While James simply said “banter,” Ola tellingly replied: “A miracle!” They both proceeded to laugh, and she quickly said to James: “I’m joking darling. I love you, love you, love you!” James continued to laugh it off in front of me and added: “We don’t take each other seriously, we take the mick out of each other.” However, he then, unprompted, went on to talk about how they deal with conflict – which I found telling, considering the question is usually answered by couples with the best parts of their relationship. He said: “We do argue, of course, everyone does, everyone has stress in their life but it’s how you deal with it and we do get each other.” Ola then said: “Yeah, it’s nice, it’s comfortable now. Yeah, we know each other so well, we know what we’re doing…” James jumped in: “We know when each other’s a bit down…” Ola then added, laughing: “Or grumpy…we just know each other well.” James also laughed at being called grumpy but, looking back, it feels like it might have been covering up some arguments. Those answers were also far from the usual lovey-dovey responses I’d expect from a celeb couple – and “comfortable” isn’t usually a word someone in a happy marriage uses to describe their relationship. I noticed that the pair sat far away from each other on the sofa during our chat as well, and weren’t very tactile. In fairness, James wasn’t lying when he said he and Ola had a lot of “banter”. Throughout my interview with them, the pair were constantly cracking jokes about James’ wandering eye and flirty behaviour. James even said if he wasn’t with Ola he’d have bedded many of his Strictly dance partners. When talking about the Strictly curse, James said: “You’re very close, aren’t you? Day one, you come in and you’re literally rubbing up on each other, groin to groin. James (pictured with Denise Van Outen) said he’d have bedded most of his Strictly dance partners if he wasn’t with Ola Credit: Rex “You just met them and you’re rubbing your crown jewels up against them. “It’s normal in our world, but not for everyone else, and you’re so close to each other, dancing sexy, and there’s nice music and you’re training with each other for eight hours a day, so if there is a little bit of chemistry, something’s going to happen. “If they’re single, I say crack on, I’m all for it.” Ola, laughing, said: “You would have, wouldn’t you?” And he jokingly replied: “Oh yeah, if I wasn’t with you!” as she rolled her eyes. I was later shocked when James got very excited about the prospect of auditioning a new, younger dance partner as he prepared to go on tour with fellow former pros Ian Waite, Brendan Cole, Vincent Simone and Pasha Kovalev for the Strictly Legends shows. Ola was unable to dance with James on the tour, as she had to stay at home and look after Ella – which meant James was looking to replace her. He said: “If the Sun can help me, I’m looking for a new partner. This is genuine. I get to try out with a few different girls!” She then half-jokingly said to him: “You’re gonna love that, aren’t you?” as he eagerly clapped his hands and laughed with glee. I wouldn’t be happy if my husband was talking about other girls like that. James was preparing to go on the Strictly Legends tour and was very excited about auditioning for a new dance partner to replace Ola, who had to stay home with their daughter Ella Credit: Instagram In fact, the whole time James was talking about the Legends tour, and Ola being forced to stay at home with Ella, Ola seemed visibly upset. I even noticed she had tears in her eyes at one point. She told me: “But that’s my life now, my life now is Ella, she’s my priority, and I feel like she should be going to school and staying at home. “She can’t be staying in a hotel. She needs stimulation. “But I’m gutted I’m not doing it.” It was clear to me how much Ola wanted to go on the tour and dance with her husband. Following the Legends tour, James was only going to be home with Ola and Ella for two weeks before heading off again to play Dandini in Cinderella. But Ola and James joked they were looking forward to time apart. “Obviously, we’ve been away from each other before,” James said. “But I’m not looking forward to it.” Ola chimed in: “I’m looking forward to it, to having a lovely time at home. It’ll be nice and quiet.” James continued: “Actually, I’ll have no one bothering me. Wives – sometimes they’re like wasps, aren’t they? “But being away from my daughter is going to be hard. I’m not looking forward to that at all. “I might come back and she might be like, ‘Who are you?’ She’ll have seen the gardeners more than me.” James’ dad, Allan Jordan, died on March 13, 2021, at the age of 67, after being diagnosed with a stage-four brain tumor Credit: INSTAGRAM/JAMES JORDAN James and Ola put all their focus into Dance Shred – which James can be seen leading at the Anda Barut Credit: Anda Barut Collection We revealed earlier this week how everything changed for the pair following the death of James’ father, Allan Jordan, who died on March 13, 2021, at the age of 67, after being diagnosed with a stage four brain tumor. Sources close to the pair said: “James was never the same again following the loss of his dad. “It affected his life more than he or anyone ever expected and it really took its toll on their relationship. “James’ mental health has been suffering for a while, and more recently he spiralled. He is still very much dealing with his grief.” And James and Ola admitted to me when I spoke to them that James’ dad being diagnosed with cancer had affected their relationship and their health. “At the same time as we went into lockdown, my dad got diagnosed with a terminal brain tumour,” James told me. “I’m not gonna say I went into depression but I went into quite a dark place and I didn’t want to do anything. “I didn’t really want to exercise. We were either eating or trying to see him. “We just went into survival mode.” “We were just surviving,” Ola added. “Suddenly we had this newborn baby in our arms, his dad was in hospital and the last thing on our minds was to be fit.” They then created a weight loss programme, Dance Shred, combining dancing with functional exercises – and that “gave them focus” back. However, they haven’t posted about Dance Shred since 2024, around the same time that James joined the Strictly Legends tour, which suggests they may have lost one of the things keeping them together. Hayley with Ian Waite after James and Ola had left the dinner separately Credit: Supplied It wasn’t just the interview that was cause for concern either. On our final night in Bodrum, my husband and I had dinner with James and Ola, along with Ian Waite and others. James was right in the centre of the table, being very loud and vocal about his thoughts on Strictly over a few glasses of wine, while Ola was much more reserved, sat at the end of the table with Ella. She then left early, saying she had to put Ella to bed. However, James stayed for another hour before joining them. Looking back, I now wonder if I was witnessing the beginning of the end for this high-profile and long-running marriage.