Strictly’s Janette Manrara steps out in pink ski jacket after co-hosting BBC Morning Live

She has been filling in for Kym Marsh on BBC Morning Live as the presenter recovers from a hernia operation.

And Strictly’s Janette Manrara wrapped up warm in a pink ski jacket as she stepped out after co-hosting the breakfast TV show on Tuesday.

The ballroom champion, 37, said the temporary presenting gig was a ‘mini dream come true’ for her as she thanked the team for giving her the opportunity.

Leaving the BBC studios earlier today, the Cuban-American dancer struck a confident pose as she layered up in the cold weather.

Janette paired brown knee-high leather boots with white jeans and a long pink and black padded coat with a furry hood.

Under the full-length coat, she wore a grey and white crew neck hoodie and completed the look with a pink facemask, which she wore coming out of the building.

Janette has been stepping in for regular presenter Kym Marsh, who was forced to temporarily pull out of hosting the show, as she grapples with effects of her ‘horrendous’ hernia operation. 

The TV personality, 44, appeared from home earlier this month to explain her absence saying: ‘I am really surprised. There was more to it than we originally thought.

‘I am someone who likes to get up and about and do things for myself. It’s really difficult having to sit and do nothing, it’s horrendous.

‘One of the problems of having a hernia is it’s really restrictive and stops you doing exercise you want to do. This is just killing me now. But I am listening to my body, you have to, it’s important. I’ll be there soon.’

Janette took to her Instagram Stories on Tuesday to thank BBC Morning Live for giving her the opportunity to co-present the show.

She wished presenter Kym Marsh well, saying she hoped she is ‘feeling better’ and said it was a ‘mini dream come true’ to host the show. 

‘The whole team there at BBC Morning Live is just awesome and I feel so lucky to have been able to be a part of it,’ she said.

I’m very honoured and blessed that they believed in me and brought me on board for the couple shows that they did.

‘A little mini dream come true in that department, to be able to do that.’

Janette recently revealed plans to have a baby with her Slovenian dancer husband Aljaž Škorjanec, 30, after 10 years of romance. 

The Strictly professional admitted on BBC Morning Live last month that it was a ‘scary decision’ to make because as a dancer, her body is her ‘tool’.

However, she said the coronavirus crisis made her realise there will never be a ‘perfect’ time to get pregnant and the couple are now looking forward to becoming parents.

In an appearance on the breakfast TV show, Janette was questioned by BBC host Gethin Jones about reports of her plans to have a baby. 

The dancer admitted it was a ‘scary’ decision, saying: ‘Do you know what it is? It’s very scary being a dancer, my body is kind of my tool.

‘It’s what I use. And Aljaž and I, we dance and work and do everything together so if you think about it when I fall pregnant, that’s fifty per cent of the team gone.

‘So it’s a real big decision and it’s a scary decision for us to make.’

She added: ‘But what I did say, is that Covid taught me that there is never going to be a perfect time and that every time is the right time. So we’re very much looking forward to being parents.’ 

In an interview with Hello! magazine earlier this year, Janette revealed the couple’s baby plans.

She said: ‘We always wanted to have a baby, but 2020 has definitely made me say to myself: “You know what, Janette, it’s never going to be the perfect time but it’s always going to be the right time”.’

The TV star insisted that she and Aljaz are ‘ready to be parents’, gushing that her partner, who is also a Strictly professional, is a ‘wonderful man’. 

She said: ‘We’re definitely ready to be parents so we will see when that moment comes – you can’t plan it – we will be beside ourselves and Aljaz will be the best dad.’ 

This comes after the loved-up couple were recently reunited after they were forced to live apart for weeks during the latest series of Strictly Come Dancing.

The Strictly pair, who married in 2017, had to live separately during filming at the end of 2020 because of the show’s strict coronavirus measures. 

Janette had been living alone since October, while Aljaz went back to their home after being eliminated from the show alongside his partner DJ Clara Amfo.

For the first time, Janette made it all the way to the final with her celebrity partner HRVY, but lost out to champions Bill Bailey and his pro partner Oti Mabuse.