Former Strictly dancers James and Ola Jordan are back from their sunny holiday in Turkey with their three-year-old daughter Ella and back to decorating their new house.
Sweet Ella is having a blast on her amazing new climbing frame, as you can see in the exclusive video below – and it won’t be long before mum and dad brave a playdate in their new home.
In their HELLO! parenting column below, James tells all about his fear of flying which Ola admits is getting worse on every trip. Little Ella’s reaction is so surprising and impressive.
Also in their column, read about Ella’s new ‘office-style’ playroom and the family’s thoughts about her starting school in a year’s time…
James’ huge fear
The family are just back from their family holiday to Turkey, and James reveals his crippling fear on the journey…
James: I hate flying. It fills me with dread. As I’m getting older I’m getting worse.
Ola: It’s really bad. The anxiety he’s having on that plane is unbelievable. In the Strictly years we used to fly around the world and I remember him not feeling comfortable on planes, but now he’s terrible – to the point where he can’t even hide it from Ella.
At the start, I said, ‘Don’t show her that you’re scared because I don’t want her to have that fear.’ But he can’t even hide it, he’s that bad now. He used to squeeze my hand so hard he almost broke it, so he’s not allowed to hold my hand now!
James: I’m curious to see if the readers have the same fear.
Ola: I do understand his fear because I don’t like water. If you told me to jump into deep water from a boat, I wouldn’t do it.
James: I think it’s a control thing possibly, I feel out of control in a plane. I have a panic attack.
HELLO!: How does Ella react?
James: She doesn’t care. She tells me she’s not scared of anything.
Ola: Except for that massive spider I had to remove from the house this week because Ella and daddy were too scared!
Ella’s new playroom – and a house move on the horizon?
James: We’ve been so busy with the house. We’re currently having panelling put in and then on Monday, we’re having wardrobes fitted. They are doing four bedrooms and Ella’s playroom.
Ola: Her playroom is going to be like a little office playroom. I know she’s not going to school yet but she will be next year, so she’ll have a little desk and pink curtains. I want to paint her room pink. I don’t know why, but I’ve set my mind on pink. I’ve got her a pink wardrobe too.
James: Or maybe we don’t paint it pink – it might be ‘too pink’?!
Ola: It’s like a blush pink, it’s not pink pink.
© InstagramOla: We’ll probably be here three years then James will put the house on the market! I’ve got loads of stuff in the garage that I haven’t unpacked yet and I don’t think I’ll bother, because I can see in his head that he’s thinking about looking at places.
James: Well there you go… so all that stuff in the garage can go to the tip then. You don’t need it.
Ola: No! I still want it but I’m not going to unpack it and pack it all back up again.
The garage box debate goes on until HELLO! intervenes…
HELLO!: How long do you think you’ll be in this current house for?
Ola: The longest I give it is five years, and James has actually nodded his head.
James: Oh yeah. This is a good place for us at the moment given the current economic uncertainty and we’ll wait and see what happens with inflation and interest rates.
Ella’s own private playground
Ola: She’s loving the climbing frame we bought for her – although she won’t go out there today because it’s raining. I was out in the garden with Ella yesterday playing. She makes me go down the slide and on the swings. It’s really cute.
James: It’s great that we bought that for her. Now she doesn’t ask to go to the park all the time; she’s quite happy going out there. The only thing is we will need to start doing playdates as she makes us go and sit with her – she doesn’t like being alone.
Ola: Yeah we need to.
James: I’m a very last-minute person and I ring people a lot. Ola is the opposite: she doesn’t like ringing people or doing things last minute.
The other day I said, ‘Why don’t you just ring Ella’s friend’s mum and dad and say do they want to come around for an hour and play with Ella?’ She didn’t want to do that.
Ola: Because I had things to do and I’d have had to be with the mum and I was busy sorting Ella’s clothes.
James: It’s hard for us to plan in advance with social events because of the nature of our job – we never know when a job might come up.
© InstagramIs toilet training a success?
Ola: So Ella has been doing so well with her toilet training and is out of nappies at night, but she’s had a Couple of accidents. We’re not sure why.
James: It’s hard because she was so well for so long and now she’s started wetting the bed sometimes. We read up on it and it says: do not under any circumstances put them back in nappies.
Ola: No, I’m not putting her back in nappies because I think she’s doing really well. I think Ella does it without knowing in the night. I tell her in the morning and she’s confused. She says, ‘What happened here mummy?’
She is little and it makes me wonder, have we trained her at night a bit too early?
James: Well she woke up this morning and was really happy that she was dry so we’ll see how it goes.
Thoughts on Ella starting school
HELLO!: How do you feel about Ella starting school next year?
James: Oh my god, it fills me with dread. She’ll be the small one as well.
Ola: She’s only teeny weeny to go to school, she’s still a little baby. She’s still my little munchkin. She still likes her mummy cuddles and daddy cuddles.
Ella: And kisses.
© InstagramOla: And kisses, yeah.
HELLO!: What does Ella think about going to school?
James: Are you looking forward to going to big school Ella? No? You don’t want to? [no reply]
Ola: All she talks about is when she’s four she’s allowed to go on the climbing wall in Bluewater. She’s obsessed with it. She keeps saying, ‘When I’m four, I’m going to climb that wall’. She’s going to go to school, and she’s going to climb the wall! It’s so funny.