STRICTLY SPEAKING: 'LIFE'S CHALLENGES SOMETIMES SLAP YOU IN THE FACE'

AFTER A TOUGH YEAR, ORE AND PORTIA ODUBA ARE MAKING SOME BIG CHANGES TO THEIR LIVES, AND PLANNING MORE TIME TOGETHER AS A FAMILY

- ELLIE KIRWIN-JONES AND KIRSTEN MURRAY

TV presenter and Strictly champion Ore Oduba is known for his sunny smile and even sunnier personality. But even he isn’t immune to the stresses and strains of moving house with two young children under your feet. However, typical of his glass half-full mentality, Ore cheerfully tells us that the process has been “as pain-free as possible with two kids”.

Ore and his wife Portia are escaping to the country after revising their priorities during the pandemic and realising that family comes first.

“We want to be closer to family after everything that’s happened over the past two years,” explains Ore, who lifted the Strictly Glitterball Trophy in 2016 with Joanne Clifton.

The move also comes just after the 36-year-old wrapped his 12-month stint in The Rocky Horror Show. Ore admits the tour was a “difficult chapter” for him and Portia, who got married in 2015 and are parents to son Roman, four, and daughter Genie, who will turn one in October.

“From a work perspective, it was amazing, an incredible job. But at home it was a difficult chapter to negotiate,” he says.

Portia adds, “It was one of the hardest things. We went into it thinking it was going to be a three-month contract, just three months until Genie was born – but fast forward a year, and Ore has just finished.