A beloved winner of Strictly Come Dancing has announced her engagement – sharing a picture of her diamond ring on Instagram.
Joanne Clifton, the sister of Kevin Clifton, competed in two seasons of Strictly between 2014 and 2017 and left her mark after winning the Glitterball Trophy with TV host Ore Oduba in 2016.
Shortly after leaving Strictly, the 41-year-old dancer and presenter met her partner AJ Jenks, and the pair began a relationship in 2020.
The couple announced their engagement with a collaborative Instagram post on Monday afternoon, sharing a picture of Joanne flashing her dazzling engagement ring.
They hilariously captioned the post, ‘Got bored… so we’re getting married. Cheers!’ complete with a thumbs-up emoji.
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Other pictures in the gallery showed the two embracing and posing for the camera, and celebrating with their family and friends, as well as some musicians.
The comments were immediately filled with Strictly faces from the past and present who were sending on their best wishes to the delighted couple.
Karen Hauer said, ‘Omg jo!! Congratulations beautiful! Big hug x,’ while Oti Mabuse sent her congratulations and referred to Joanne by her adorable nickname Jojo Bear.
Stacey Dooley, a fellow Strictly champion and partner of Joanne’s brother Kevin, sent many love hearts, while pro-dancer Nancy Xiu flew straight in with several heart-eyes emojis and a big ‘Congratulations! message.
Kevin showed his support by sharing a picture to his own Instagram page, with Strictly alumnus Zoe Ball sending her best wishes.
Joanne first joined Strictly Come Dancing in 2014, a year after her brother Kevin, and danced with BBC radio host and TV presenter Scott Mills.
She missed the 2015 series but rejoined in 2016, when she danced with Ore and won the title, beating competition from fellow finalists Louise Redknapp and Danny Mac.
Kevin finished as runner-up as Louise’s partner, which was the fourth time in a row he’d finished second, eventually winning the competition with Stacey Dooley in 2018.
In her year off from the main series, however, Joanne did win the 2015 Christmas special, dancing alongside McFly drummer and 2011 Strictly winner Harry Judd.
In 2022, two years after they got together, Joanne revealed that she initially thought her and AJ’s relationship wasn’t going to work, but that she was quickly proven wrong.
She told Metro: ‘I said to myself, I’m not going to go out with anyone from the industry, but you can’t help what happens. I went to see AJ in the Buddy Holly musical and he asked me out for a drink.
‘I was convinced it wasn’t going to work but we’ve been together nearly two years now.’
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