00:05Voila! The opportunity came and I had to take it while I could. It wasn't a hard decision and it
00:11wasn't a scary decision. It was more, I would say, bittersweet because I was so excited to move into
00:16that part of my life. My mom is the one that kind of was like, Jeanette, my daughter, my Cuban
00:22daughter from this small little town in Miami called Hialeah, is now hosting a BBC primetime
00:30TV show. My own talk show would be amazing. I think that's a lot of presenters' dreams.
00:36Watch this space. We'll see. Hi, everyone, and thank you for tuning in. In celebration of
00:41International Women's Day, I'm joined today by Jeanette Manrawa, former Strictly Come Dancing
00:46Star and It Takes Two Presenter. Jeanette has had a very big change in the past year. She's gone
00:52from being an established household name in the dancing industry to then presenting, and we're
00:59going to basically take a look back at how she felt going through this change and how brave you were
01:03to
01:04make the jump. So, Jeanette, can I start by asking, how did you feel? How long did it take you
01:09to sort
01:09of process the whole idea of, you know, suddenly changing career? Oh, well, I've been wanting,
01:16I mean, a dancer's career is so short. You can only dance at top, top, top level for a certain
01:23amount
01:23of time. You can dance forever. You can keep dancing, as we see on the show, forever. But to be
01:28at a
01:29certain standard, high standard of dance, it's a very short career. So ever since I got onto Strictly
01:35Come Dancing, I've always been thinking about, well, what's next? What's going to happen next once
01:41I'm done with the dancing? And I love entertainment. I've always loved entertaining. And I thought I'd
01:47love to still make people smile, still be involved in some shape or form with the arts. And I do
01:55like
01:55interviewing people. I like talking to people. I like sharing people's stories. I'm kind of the one
02:00that all of my mates come to and ask me for advice when they're having a tough time. So yeah,
02:06the change to go into presenting, I think was a very slow, long process. It just seems like it
02:13happened overnight. But for me, it's been something I've been thinking about for a really, really long
02:18time. And I think it's just, you know, it was just this opportunity that just happened to be given
02:24to me. Zoe Ball decided to step down from It Takes Two. And when she decided to step down,
02:30the It Takes Two team knew how much I wanted to eventually present or get into hosting and to kind
02:36of move into another part of my career. And so I had been doing all the nitty gritty work on
02:41the side
02:41on my own. They knew that. And then voila, the opportunity came and I had to take it while I
02:48could.
02:48And I, it's been, I wasn't scared at all. I was really, really ready for it. I was really excited
02:55for it. I think the hardest part of it was saying goodbye to dancing on Strictly because I'm not going
03:01to stop dancing, but I'm not going to be dancing on Strictly anymore. And it was such a huge part
03:06of
03:06my life and such a big, big career move for me when I did get onto Strictly as a dancer.
03:13So that was hard
03:14to say goodbye to the dance floor. It wasn't a hard decision and it wasn't a scary decision.
03:19It was more, I would say, bittersweet because I was so excited to move into that part of my life,
03:24but also so sad to say goodbye to dancing on Strictly.
03:28And you kind of, right now you kind of have the best of both worlds because you're,
03:32you're still, you know, linked to your Strictly, Strictly pastor, then also you're doing presenting.
03:38You know, when you broke the news to, you know, your Strictly co-stars that you were leaving,
03:43was there anyone in particular who really pushed you and said, you know, this is amazing,
03:48like go for it? Do you know what, all the girls, funny enough, all the female pros on Strictly,
03:54we are such a tight-knit group of women. And I remember many, many years ago when I first came
04:00on the show, you know, it was not that we were close or kind to each other back then, but
04:05I feel
04:06like through the years, myself and some of the other female pros on the show have really kind of
04:10planted the seeds for unity and empowerment and coming together and supporting each other
04:16because we, we do work in a male dominated industry and Strictly Come Dancing is a space
04:22where women feel empowered, where women really look out for each other. So when the announcement
04:30came for me to do It Takes Two, literally all the girls on, on the show, every single one,
04:35I mean, the men as well, the men as well, but I mean, the girls are just so proud of
04:39me because,
04:40because we are such a tight-knit group of women on the show. And even now hosting on the live
04:45tour,
04:46you know, they, they all mentioned to me at one point or another, the other girls, they go,
04:50we're just so proud of you. We watch you every night on the show and you're just so good at
04:55it.
04:56It really feel like one of us did it. You know what I mean? And, um, and that's a nice
05:01feeling to
05:02have. And I feel very, very lucky that I worked in an environment where the women are, are really
05:08supportive of each other, really, really put like pushing for each other's successes, because I feel
05:15the more we do that as women with each other, the more we'll rise all together.
05:19Because you really cemented yourself now in the presenting world and how, you know,
05:23how empowered did that make you feel?
05:26Massively empowered because, um, you know, I'm, I'm Latina. My family's Cuban. I was born in
05:31Miami. I was like the first American born of my, my whole family. So they immigrated over from Cuba.
05:38I learned English in school, you know, no one in my household really spoke English. Like,
05:42so my mom is the one that kind of was like, Jeanette, my daughter, my Cuban daughter from
05:49this small little town in Miami called Hialeah is now hosting a BBC primetime TV show, you know,
05:58and it was definitely a pinch myself moment and a feeling of so much pride in the hard work and
06:04dedication that I've been putting to myself, to my career, to making sure that I did it how I wanted
06:10to do it. And in a, in a way that made me feel good about me and who I am
06:14as a person. And, um, and so
06:16there was definitely a sense of empowerment for, for me. And I think, I think we're just women in
06:21television and women like myself was Latin and not, not, you know, not, not being able to let any of
06:27those things stop me from really pursuing something as big as, as hosting it takes too. And yeah, I
06:32definitely felt empowered.
06:34And I think with TV, you know, the TV industry nowadays, um, it has typically always been like
06:41a male dominated industry and it, but to a certain extent it is nowadays, you still see reports about,
06:46you know, um, gender pay gap, but were there any female presenters who, you know, gave you advice
06:53before you switched into presenting or, um, you know, about how to handle it all?
06:59I mean, it's interesting because I think because of the show that I worked on strictly, we've got two
07:05female hosts. Uh, Zoe Ball was the host of It Takes Two alongside Ryland for, for Zoe did it for
07:11like
07:1110 years. So I never felt that kind of, uh, inequality because I was in a space where women
07:18were at the forefront of it all, you know, and what I've never seen any other TV show in the
07:23world,
07:24really. That's a Saturday night primetime TV show where it's two female hosts. So for me,
07:29watching Tess and Claudia smash every Saturday night show, the way that those two did throughout
07:35the years was inspirational enough to see that happening. And then when it came to me taking over
07:41It Takes Two, Zoe Ball was just so brilliant at messaging me and texting me and giving me advice
07:47on like, you're going to be amazing. Just trust how good you are. You love the show and people will
07:53appreciate how much support and love you have for everyone involved. And so I felt that I grew up
07:58in the TV world in a space where women were actually really, really empowered and at the forefront of
08:04it all. And is there anyone's career, you know, looking at female presenters, are there any,
08:09is there anyone's career that, um, you want to emulate or that, you know, who inspires you?
08:15I mean, you've mentioned Tess and Claudia. Yeah. I mean, Tess and Claudia, definitely Zoe Ball.
08:20Definitely. I'm a real big fan of Emma Willis. Um, Lorraine, I love as well. There's so many women
08:27in our industry that I kind of look at and I go, wow, if I could take a little bit
08:31of each of them
08:32and apply it to my own career, I feel like it would be a recipe for just a success in
08:38my future.
08:38But I, I, you know, I've always been a really big fan of Ellen's generous as well throughout the years.
08:43She's done so fantastic for herself and, um, and her show is just such a feel good show. You just
08:49can't help but laugh and smile with her. And she's so positive and happy. Um, so she's another one that
08:55I really kind of turned to when I look at, and then on a much even bigger scale, someone like
08:59Oprah,
09:00you know, she's such an intelligent woman has really, really paved the way for black female
09:06presenters worldwide. And, you know, she is just sensational as a human being. So I turned to her
09:13a lot as well to kind of give me inspiration for what I'd like to do with my life someday.
09:17Yeah.
09:18And what is the big dream in, you know, in terms of presenting, would it be something like your
09:23own show? I mean, my own talk show would be amazing. I think that's a lot of presenters
09:27dreams. I'd love to have my own chat show, but I do love entertainment. So I'm, I'm really enjoying
09:34doing It Takes Two. I'm really, really enjoying doing the Strictly Live tour because I, as I said,
09:38at my heart, I'm an entertainer. I like talking about the arts. I like, you know, celebrating the
09:44arts and, um, yeah, so I, I mean, watch this space. We'll see. I think I'm such a baby in
09:50the
09:50presenting world. I'm just dipping my feet into it and I'm falling more and more in love with it,
09:55the more that I'm doing it, um, which I knew I would, cause I knew I always wanted to do
09:59it,
09:59but now that I'm actually doing it, I'm finding like, I'm finding my voice in that world of
10:04presenting a little bit more slowly.
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