Exclusive: Ola and James Jordan's shock at daughter Ella's scary accident
Ola Jordan is in good spirits when we catch up with her for her first HELLO!Ola & Ella column of 2025.
The formerStrictly Come Dancing professional is thrilled to have her husband and fellow dancer husband James Jordan back home after his long stints on the Legends Tour and in pantomime at the end of last year.
As she speaks to us from their car, Ola shares that they have just come from dropping their four-year-old daughter Ella at school, before doing one of their home Dance Shred workouts together, and now heading to the tattoo parlour.
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"We're on our way to have one of James' tattoos removed. It's on his right arm and he had it done about 24 years ago back in Hong Kong - he's not happy with it, so he's having it removed by laser."
"The process is really painful, and I think Ola wanted to come to see me in pain!" James jokes, to which Ola replies, "Of course not! But I said by having this tattoo off, he's making space for my face, an Ola tattoo." It's good to hear the fun couple back to their normal jokey selves after so long apart.
Here, Ola fills us in on Christmas at the Jordans'…
Daddy home for Christmas
"Our Christmas was really weird because James wasn't around that much. He came back for Christmas Day, we went out for a meal in a restaurant, went to James' mum's house and then we got back home, went to bed, and then he left again.
"He had three shows on Christmas Eve, then had to get back for a double show day on Boxing Day. It's the first year that we haven't spent a proper Christmas together in the 24 years we've been together.
"Ella missed her dad a lot. I took her to see him in panto and she cried all the way home. We were driving down the M1 and she was crying saying, 'I want my daddy'. And a few times at home when he was away over Christmas, she would go to bed and say, 'I miss my daddy, I really love him, mummy.'
"She missed him because he plays different games with her. I'm more dolls and puzzles whereas they play Lego and daddy plays golf."
"I had told Ella that Father Christmas was going to drop James off because he was coming. So when she got into our bed at about 2 am on Christmas Eve, the first thing she checked was if James was in bed.
"She looked at me and she had a big smile on her face, like, 'He's back!'
"Then she wanted to check to see if he was wearing matching Christmas pyjamas like we were, so she lifted up the covers and was very happy he was wearing them. Then she went back to sleep. She didn't even ask about her stocking.
"When Ella woke in the morning, she cuddled James for about an hour. She still didn't mention Father Christmas at all – she just wanted her dad. It was very sweet."
"Her stocking was in her bedroom, but she was too scared to go into her room by herself, so I had to go with her. She had only asked for small things like a new lunchbox, play dough, a little bag for swimming, inexpensive things. I can definitely wait for a list with an iPad or iPhone on it!"
"Ella loved her presents and we had a lovely day together. She was just so happy her dad was back."
Family time together
"My parents came over to visit from Poland for Christmas and they are still here now. It's so nice seeing them with Ella.
"They don't really understand each other that much because Ella doesn't fully speak Polish, so it's a few words here and there, but they still spend time together drawing and playing with the ball.
"They have tickles and cuddles - she comes up to my dad and gives him a hug and it's so nice to see. She loves them. They stayed at my sister's house for a few weekends and Ella missed them, and was like, "When are they coming back?"
"We're adapting to having James home - we really missed him. Ella and I had got into a different routine with him away. Ella would come home from school, and I'd get dinner ready earlier and we would go to bed earlier.
"Then my mum and dad arrived and that routine went out the window because then she started to stay up later and, and then obviously it was school holidays.
"She actually started to miss school after Christmas. She would wake up in the morning and say, 'Mummy, am I going to school today?' and we'd say, 'No, not yet.' She replied, 'Oh, mummy, I want to go to school.'"
Ella's shock accident
"Ella had a bad accident at home over the holidays that gave us such a shock.
"She fell onto the corner of a chair and it went into her cheek. Thank goodness she didn't hit the table as she could have ripped her face open.
"It was awful, she was screaming. I ran up and her cheek had gone white and had a dent in it. I thought she'd ripped her cheek apart or something. I'm being very dramatic, but it looked horrible and then suddenly this bruise came up.
"It was massive on her cheek, massive. Now it's gone all yellow. At the time I tried to put ice on her cheek but that did not go well – she hated it. We're so relieved she's OK."
The year ahead
"With the new year, we're getting back to routine. Life is a bit different for us because we don't have nine to five jobs – we have to search for work and be proactive with it. We’ve got a show coming up at the end of January so we need to keep fit for that.
"Poor James needs to have an operation on a hernia which has returned, so I really feel for him. He thinks the dancing on the Legends Tour might have triggered it. It will put him out of action for a while as he recovers. I must admit he's a good patient though and doesn't moan. So, it's a quiet start to the year for us."
