Former contestant has opened up about her time on the dance competition, admitting it had a lasting impact on her life – but not in the way she expected.The sports presenter, 51, competed on the 2007 series of the show. She was partnered with professional dancer . That same year, her husband Kenny Logan also took part, dancing alongside James’ wife Ola Jordan.
While Kenny made it to the quarterfinals, Gabby’s journey was cut short when she was eliminated in week four. Speaking on Jessica Ennis-Hill’s podcast Gold Minds, Gabby looked back on her Strictly experience, describing it as “amazing” but also “kind of a life-changing experience in many ways”. But she was quick to elaborate: “You hear people go on Strictly saying, ‘It’s changed my life,’ but this wasn’t in a good way.” Although she loved taking part in the show, Gabby found it difficult to come to terms with her elimination. She explained: “When you get voted out of Strictly, it’s so shocking because you go in every week, starting to work on your following week’s dance, and you don’t expect to go home, right?”
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Gabby Logan was deeply affected by her time on Strictly Come Dancing (Image: PA)
Despite receiving decent scores, she unexpectedly landed in the bottom two and was eliminated after the dance-off.
The experience left her questioning how she was perceived by the public. “I was very much aware that people didn’t like me,” she admitted. Meanwhile her husband Kenny was a fan favorite.
She recalls struggling to deal with the backlash, particularly comments that labeled her as “too competitive”. Gabby shared: “I think there’s been a real change in the way women are allowed to be competitive openly since then. But at the time, even in 2007, I was seen as somebody who was too determined almost and wanted it too much and looked too disappointed when her scores were low.”
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The gymnast’s husband was a fan favourite while she got voted out (Image: BBC)
Despite James Jordan trying to keep her grounded by reminding her that Strictly was just a TV show, Gabby found it difficult to detach from the sense of competition after years spent training as a gymnast .
After being axed, she admits: “I was very surprisingly devastated in the sense that it shook me… how upset I was about it.”
Gabby shared that Kenny was so upset by her elimination that he even called Strictly bosses to ask if he could swap places with her to keep her in the competition. Producers turned down his request.
During this difficult period, Gabby wrote in her journal about her struggles, questioning how she could “change” to be more liked by an audience that didn’t know her personally. She has since reflected on how public expectations of female contestants may have played a role in her reception.
Writing for in 2022, she noted: “Perhaps I should have been a bit more hapless or humble, displaying more of a ‘Thanks for giving me this opportunity’ kind of demeanour, more what the audience at the time probably expected from a woman.”
Looking back, Gabby remains torn about her Strictly experience, calling it both “one of the best of my professional life and simultaneously one of the most frustrating and sad.”