Strictly Come Dancing star Janette Manrara has spoken out about the tough struggle she faces balancing a successful stage and TV career with being a mum to daughter Lyra Rose
Janette has spent much of 2025 on stage in the touring company of Chicago(Image: Ricky Vigil M / Justin E Palmer, GC Imagesvia Getty Images)
Strictly star Janette Manrara became emotional when she revealed how she feels conflicted trying to balance a successful stage and TV career with being a mum.
The professional dancer moved on to presenting Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two after reaching the 2020 final with singer HRVY.
Janette, 41, shares daughter Lyra Rose with fellow Strictly star Aljaz Skorjanec, with the pair welcoming her into the world in July 2023.
She welled up with tears as she told Sophie Ellis-Bextor “I could almost cry now thinking about it because I had some really tough nights, really tough nights because she was…so little.”
Janette, who married long-time partner Aljaž in 2017, has spent most of 2025 starring as Roxie Hart in the multi-award-winning musical Chicago as part of its UK and Ireland tour.
But throughout the hugely successful tour she struggled with how much time she spent away from her two-year-old daughter.
She said: “I’d come home – or there were some weeks that my mum and Lyra would come with me so I could be with her at least during the day before I had shows in the evening. But it was really tough because I was so exhausted all the time because I was doing shows in the evening and then trying to be her mother in the day.”
Janette and Aljaž met when they were both in Strictly(Image: Eamonn M. McCormack, Getty Images)
Janette says the stress of trying to combine motherhood with her showbiz career was almost too much to take: “I just wasn’t sleeping. So I kept beating myself up going, I can’t be in two places at the same time.”
Janette adds that she knew that Lyra was well looked-after with Aljaž, and both of the little girl’s grandmothers pitching in to look after her. Despite this the dancer still felt anxious that she wasn’t at home with her.
She explains that with both of them working in the entertainment industry, there’s always the fear that work might suddenly dry up. As a result, Janette finds it hard to turn opportunities down.
With both Aljaž and Janette in showbusiness, work can be irregular (Image: Eamonn M. McCormack, Getty Images)
Janette says that while playing Roxy Hart may not directly benefit Lyra, for her it’s a career high: “it’s a dream come true for me.
“But at the same time, I was providing for my family because Aljaž wasn’t working. And as you know, as a creative, both of us are creatives. Aljaž and I, we both are in the creative field.
“And when work comes in, it’s really hard to say no because you just don’t know when the next one is going to be there. So I thought I’ve got to do this because I want to be able to be there for her next year, let’s say. “
Janette and Aljaž announced that they were expecting their first child in late summer 2023(Image: Dave J Hogan, Dave J Hogan/Getty Images)
Janette adds that she’s determined to stay home for Lyra next year: “I want to be able to be there for her next year, let’s say. So next year, I’m definitely not doing any six months tour or anything like that so I can be there with her..
“In my brain, I created this mathematical formula that I’ll do one year on, one year off, one year on, one year off, just to survive as a family.
“But it was really, really tough. And I think I was very open on my socials. I posted a few videos of me being honest and crying about it because I think it’s nice for parents, not just moms because men go through it as well, for parents to just know that they’re really not alone when you just miss your kids.”
