Strictly Come Dancing contestant Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink has gone into great detail about the frustration he feels on the dance floor.
Monde Mwitumwa TV and Celebrity Reporter and Jordan Lloyd Beck
09:08, 26 Oct 2025
Strictly’s Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink(Image: CREDIT LINE:BBC/Ray Burmiston)
Strictly Come Dancing’s Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink has expressed his frustration over a recurring mistake he seems to be making during rehearsals every week.
The ex-footballer, 53, is currently lighting up the dance floor on the BBC’s Saturday night show with professional partner Lauren Oakley.
Despite scoring a respectable total of 29 last week, he’s still grappling with one particular issue before each performance.
As they prepare for Icons Week, where Jimmy and Lauren will perform the American Smooth to Prince’s classic Purple Rain, the sportsman confessed that he tends to ‘complicate things’ when learning the steps. He explained that after a few attempts, he starts to overthink, leading to unnecessary complications and self-frustration.
Despite his lack of confidence, Lauren has every faith in her dancing partner READ MORE: BBC Strictly Come Dancing’s Shirley Ballas leaves fans in meltdown with final predictionREAD MORE: Strictly Vicky Pattison’s message from icon after breaking down over ‘bad decisions’
He admitted: “The first hit, I do them, and then after the third time trying, I complicate things, and I end up thinking too much about it and overcomplicating it, and then getting frustrated with myself and getting angry. So, it’s a process that I just need to get out of. I don’t know what it is, but I haven’t cracked it yet in my head.”
Jimmy further elaborated that this is something he needs to overcome mentally. He reasoned that perhaps his struggles stem from the fact that dancing is ‘not natural’ to him and is a completely new experience.
In an exclusive interview with the Express, he continued: “So, it’s a process that I just need to get out of. I don’t know what it is, but I haven’t cracked it yet in my head. I think it’s just because it’s not natural, it’s not a day-to-day thing, it’s a new discipline. And you can just see my face changing and my demeanour shifting. I just get really upset with myself.”
However, Lauren revealed in the joint interview that she has complete faith in his capabilities.
She told the same publication: “He goes really internal, so he’s pretty spot on there. He’s so able, I just think it’s the self-belief and the self-confidence that we need to crack because it will go wrong maybe once, and then he gets it into his head, and he goes wrong another three times.”
Last week, Jimmy and his professional partner Lauren Oakley scored 29 for their Couple’s Choice performance (Image: PA)
Elaborating further, she explained that it was simply about Jimmy ‘having self-belief’ and preventing minor errors from overshadowing his genuine progress and the abilities he is gaining during their rehearsals.
Before the competition began, Jimmy confessed he was “pushed” to take part by his daughters, who have introduced him to the world of dance.
“[It’s] unknown, out of my comfort zone, not knowing what is going to come,” he remarked.
He noted that his daughters had urged him to enter the programme. “They have pushed me into Strictly and that I have to participate, unfortunately,” he said.
Speaking about their anticipation ahead of the launch, Jimmy shared: “They’re very excited. They love it. Basically, I’m going to be bossed around for the next four months.
“I have not started training yet, but I do expect it to be very hard. I do expect it to be… It’s difficult, but it is just about being open-minded and have a go and trying to become really good at it. Absolutely.”
Jimmy is a father to four daughters – Ghislaine, 29, Miah, 18, Lauren, 16, and Khloe, 11. Miah is a musical theatre performer who’s appeared in Netflix film Matilda the Musical and Tina the Musical.
Strictly Come Dancing returns Saturday at 6.55pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
