Strictly’s Aljaz Skorjanec and Janette Manrara make heartbreaking family decision as star awaits show callback
Strictly Come Dancing stars Aljaz Skorjanec and Janette Manrara have made the difficult decision to leave their “dream home” in Cheshire after just two years.
The dancing couple, who welcomed their daughter Lyra in 2023, are relocating back to the London area after they originally moved to start a family, with the house becoming the setting for many of Lyra’s first milestones.
Despite falling in love with the property and the northern community, the professional dancers have found the logistics of their work commitments too challenging to maintain family life.
The move has been described by Aljaz, 35, as “awful, absolutely awful” after their decision to move was driven by the challenges of balancing their professional commitments with family life.
Manrara had been commuting to London twice weekly to host Strictly spin-off show It Takes Two, while Skorjanec stayed in London throughout the entire Strictly series after making his return to the show last year.
This arrangement meant the family was frequently separated, with Manrara and Lyra travelling back and forth between their northern home and the capital.
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“We spent some very, very minimal time together as a family,” she told The Mirror.
The couple prioritised being closer to London to make their work schedules more manageable while maintaining family time, leaving the former Strictly star to add: “We tried it this year with me commuting to London for It Takes Two and Aljaz staying down in London for the whole series of Strictly.”
“Lyra and I were travelling up and down twice a week, staying in hotel rooms to try and make it work,” she added.
The professional dancer admitted the situation simply wasn’t sustainable for their family and said: “It’s just not feasible for us to do that because the priority is family and spending time together and Lyra’s well-being,” she told The Mirror.
Skorjanec noted that moving with a toddler presented additional challenges and added: “It’s very stressful and it takes so much longer with a little one.
“She’ll be home, she’ll be going to the same nursery, she’ll be in the same kind of routine.
The move will allow the family to “spend more time together” while providing stability for their daughter.
Despite leaving their beloved Cheshire home, Manrara insisted on maintaining a countryside lifestyle: “When we moved back down close to London, I said to Aljaz that the only way we could do this is if we could find a house that is in the countryside again.”
Skorjanec is currently waiting to hear whether he will be included in the 2025 Strictly Come Dancing professional lineup after returning to the show last year.
He stepped away in 2022 to focus on fatherhood and become the first professional dancer to be invited back.
“I replaced nobody,” he told The Mirror about his return. “I decided myself to step away, and then I came back into my own dancing shoes.”
The couple are now preparing for their joint 19-day tour, “A Night To Remember”, which begins on 14 May and runs until 14 June.