‘Got bored… so we’re getting married!’ Strictly Come Dancing champ , 41, stuns fans as she flashes sparkling engagement ring after dramatic love U-turn – years after vowing she’d never date anyone from the industry - suong
JOANNE Clifton has announced she and boyfriend AJ Jenks are engaged.
The Strictly star took to Instagram to share her happy news, showing off her stunning ring.
Joanne, 41, wrote: "Got bored … so we’re getting married. Cheers!"
The former Strictly Come Dancing professional was flooded with messages from friends and fans.
One wrote: "Woohoooo!" Another said: "Congratulations!! Such lovely news."
And a third added: "So so happy for you!"
Joanne and AJ went public with their romance in 2020.
She previously confessed that the performer managed to change her mind after she initially decided not to date anyone from her industry.
Speaking to Metro, Joanne said: "Before I met my boyfriend AJ, 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."
Joanne left Strictly in 2016 but not before lifting the Glitterball trophy with presenter Ore Oduba.
‘I thought I’d found the one… now I feel gutted’: Heartbroken bride says her “unique” black wedding dress was stolen by MAFS UK star – only for her TV groom to cruelly sneer, ‘I thought you wear black for a funeral, not a wedding’ - suong
SHE thought she'd knocked it out of the park in a unique, eye-catching black wedding dress for her big day.
So imagine Ashleigh's surprise when she was bombarded with messages from friends saying they'd spotted the exact same dress on a bride on Married at First Sight UK.
The bride in question is 29-year-old single mum Maeve, who made a showstopping entrance to her wedding when she arrived on a horse.
She explained in the episode that she chose black to signify the "death" of her single life, but groom Joe, 31, wasn't too sure what to make of the billowing black gown.
"I thought you wear black for a funeral, not a wedding," he remarked.
Ashleigh took to her TikTok page to reflect on Maeve wearing the same dress as her, as she shared snaps from the show and also of her own wedding.
"When #mafsuk steals your wedding dress!" she wrote over the top of her video.
And Maeve was among those commenting on the video, as she wrote: "Great minds thinks alike - you look absolutely incredible!
"Thank you so do you!" Ashleigh replied.
"Unsure how you wore it riding a horse lol!"
"Sweetheart with a great difficulty," Maeve admitted.
"The amount of time I almost fell off cause the weight of the dress would go to one side … then so would I!"
"Didn't look like it to me!" Ashleigh replied.
"I still can't believe it - it's such an unusual dress!"
Speaking to Fabulous, Ashleigh said that when someone from her work told her that they'd seen Maeve in the dress on MAFS, she "didn't think much of it" as she was "certain it wasn't the same".
Then her dad's wife sent her pictures of Maeve on the show, leaving her "shocked".
"To be honest I was annoyed at first," she said.
"We only got married in February this year so to see that dress as unusual as it is on the TV I was a little gutted.
"But I'm now amused by it!"
The exchange between Ashleigh and Maeve after the episode aired also saw the outspoken Newcastle bride tell her that the dress "looked better" on her.
Ashleigh knew from the beginning of her wedding dress hunt that she didn't want to wear white - in fact, she didn't want a wedding dress at all.
She tried on a pink dress first off, but when she put on the black dress - the second she'd tried on - she knew she'd found the one.
And everyone loved the gown - even her nan, who burst into tears when she went with her to a fitting.
"I think it helped that everyone knew I wasn't going to be in white, so they expected a little different but every one loved it," Ashleigh said.
"Even the groom!"
