Strictly’s Jamie Laing claims viewers prejudged him as a ‘posh blond idiot’

He went into this year’s Strictly Come Dancing confident he could win.

But after finding himself in the dance off three times, the odds are firmly stacked against Jamie Laing lifting the coveted glitterball trophy next weekend.

The Made In Chelsea star, 32, told the Daily Mail on Friday that his stint on the reality show could be to blame, as viewers may have prejudged him as a ‘posh blond idiot’ when he first appeared in the dance competition.

Jamie claimed the ‘misconception’ along with his ‘excitable’ personality on the show may have left ‘hardcore’ Strictly fans reluctant to vote for him. 

Jamie, whose great-grandfather founded McVities, said that after he and his partner Karen Hauer, 38, found themselves in the bottom two in week one, he thought his participation would be short lived. 

He told the Mail: ‘I went into Strictly thinking “this is going to be amazing, I’m going to reach the final, I’m going to win it, it’s going to be great” and then I was in the dance off the first week and I was like “well this is going to be a very short lived fairytale”.

‘We’re now in the semi-final and there was no way we thought we’d get here, but we are here and you know the best thing is every single week we put so much effort into it, we really really work hard. 

‘Even though we’re in the dance off and getting through we’re just chuffed to bits because of it.’ 

Jamie said he hoped his fun and upbeat attitude to the prime time BBC1 show had helped him prove the ‘misconception’ wrong. 

As well as the first dance off, Jamie and Karen ended up in the bottom two again in the last two weeks – but received the backing of the judges to continue in the competition.

Discussing his regular appearances in the dance off, he said: ‘It’s probably down to a lot of things.

‘I’m definitely not the best dancer – as much as I like to think I was or was going to be – I’m definitely not the best dancer. It’s just one of those things, the competition is pretty tight, it’s pretty close.’

He added: ‘I am very excitable, and run around with lots of energy and things like that and perhaps the hardcore Strictly fans don’t like routines that we do.’

Asked if his reality TV background may have affected viewers’ attitudes, he said: ‘Definitely there’s probably conception or a misconception of what I am like or what I was going to be like. 

‘Lots of people saw what they thought was just a posh blond idiot coming on their TV. They probably thought “we’re not going to vote for him”. 

‘But I think what’s hopefully great about the show is that it has changed, hopefully, people’s perception a little bit, and they just see that I’m actually maybe quite a kind boy and that’s a good thing.

‘There’s definitely a misconception sometimes and rightly or wrongly that’s the case because Made In Chelsea is a certain TV show and you’re reflected in a certain way.

‘But what’s great about Strictly is it gives you that opportunity to change those people’s opinions.’

Jamie was supposed to be in last year’s series but was forced to quit the competition with a foot injury.

Jamie, who is dating Made In Chelsea co-star Sophie Habboo, said ‘everything happens for a reason’ and he was meant to dance with Miss Hauer this year.

‘Doing it this year has been incredible,’ he said. ‘Lots of reasons, you know the fact that this whole terrible year happened and then we still get to do this amazing TV show…putting on a TV show without the pandemic is hard enough let alone with a pandemic.

‘I think definitely for some reason it was meant to happen, even Karen and I as partners – we’re incredible partners with each other.

‘I was going to be partnered with Oti and I think Oti is incredible, she’s amazing and we get on so well but perhaps it would have been a different partnership to Karen and I, I don’t know, and maybe not a better one or a good one I just couldn’t tell you. 

‘All I know is that Karen and I are an amazing partnership, an incredible partnership,’ he gushed.

The pair will be dancing the Salsa and Quickstep in the semi-final on Saturday night, which starts at 7pm on BBC1.