Montell Douglas, the dynamo from Strictly Come Dancing, has dished the dirt on her fabulous camaraderie with dance partners Johannes Radebe and Kai Widdrington. After quickstepping her way to sixth place with Johannes, she shimmied through the Strictly Live Tour with Kai due to Johannes's clashing commitments.

In a heart-to-heart with Wales Online, Montell didn't hold back on praising Johannes for boosting her confidence, mentioning their soon-to-happen catch-up: "I haven't seen him since the finale of the show."

The rapport between the two was far more than mere dance partners. "I love connections, he loves connections and to have that organic connection, it was very natural. It felt like family very quickly, it didn't feel like a student teacher relationship."

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Like all strong duos, they had plenty of banter, akin to siblings: "It was like brother and sister, we could have the banter."

Reflecting further, she expressed how Johannes helped her see things anew and vice-versa: "We have a certain amount of similarities but there are certain things that he has learnt and I have learnt separately and they come together and then we fill in the gaps."

The Olympic athlete also joked about their dynamic: "Because I'm super independent and self-sufficient, whereas he has to nurture and grow someone. With me, it was more he can basically drop me off at nursery and leave me to play with my friends and I won't panic.

"I genuinely feel like that's where we bounced off each other, we could give each other what we needed when we needed it."

The star credited him for boosting her confidence in the studio. She shared: "Also the sign of a great friendship is he definitely helped me, because in the studio he would always give me a 10.

"He would go at certain points 'There is your 10 right there', because it becomes less about perfection and more about you just doing your best and going through this process."

She confessed her battles with self-doubt, but Johannes’ reassurance made a difference, as she admitted: "I have always struggled with entitlement because I was taught to work hard to earn everything.

"He would always say to me 'You deserve this' and that's really helped with my confidence in going through life."

Transitioning to her second dance partner, Kai, Montell spoke of their instant connection, thanks to Kai and Johannes' existing friendship. She detailed the ease of their rapport: "It was great because before we had even got paired [Kai] was helping with choreo, he was the person we could go to and lean on."

Describing Kai's calming presence, she added: "He's just a gentleman, he's a very different energy, the perfect person to have on tour. He's so relaxed and chilled, we have got a very similar temperament.

"We have a lot of fun, we joke around and bounce off each other - it was definitely what I needed knowing Jojo wasn't going to be there."

She also highlighted Kai's caring nature: "He still checks on me, making sure I'm OK, it was nice to still have that and feel like you're not on your own."

Passionate about learning new skills, Montell Douglas is supporting the Skills for Life campaign from the Department for Education.

Together, they’re on a mission to help adults across the country make some brain gains in 2025.

To find out more about the free and flexible learning opportunities in your local area search ‘Skills for Life’.