KATIE HIND: He lost his mum Jade Goody at the age of five. Now he’s the snake-hipped toast of Strictly… and winning millions of hearts. How the BBC is banking on Bobby Brazier as its saviour

• Just five weeks on BBC dance show and the 20-year-old is a national treasure 

With his charming, mega-watt smile, model cheekbones, wavy hair and snake hips, Strictly favourite Bobby Brazier could easily be mistaken for Harry Styles, or even a youthful Mick Jagger.

And it’s fair to say that after just five weeks on the BBC dance show, the 20-year-old is already a national treasure, his cheeky charisma winning over millions.

Last week’s show saw viewers fall that little bit more in love with the 6ft 2in actor and model, as he tightly embraced his diminutive dance partner Dianne Buswell, whose voice cracked with feeling as she described their ’emotional’ week and called him her ‘rock’.

His own emotions were evident, too, despite scoring an impressive 30 out of 40 for their tango to Fashion by David Bowie.

No one’s quite sure what brought the pair so close to tears, but Strictly is well known for being a pressure cooker of an experience, where bonds are made and romance can bloom.

Indeed, it reveals something about the dynamic between the pair, who are hot favourites to win the glitter ball this year. Their age gap may be significant – Australian-born Dianne is 34, some 14 years older than Bobby – but this looked like a pairing of equals.

After just five weeks on the BBC dance show, the 20-year-old is already a national treasure, his cheeky charisma winning over million

Last week’s show saw viewers fall that little bit more in love with the 6ft 2in actor and model, as he tightly embraced his diminutive dance partner Dianne Buswell

But, then again, Bobby is mature for his years, having had to grow up fast.

The son of TV presenter Jeff Brazier and the late Jade Goody of Big Brother fame, he was only five when his mother died aged 27, following a very public battle with cervical cancer.

READ MORE: Strictly’s Bobby Brazier professes he is ‘falling in love’ with Dianne Buswell and reveals a cheeky secret about rehearsals 

Shock: On Saturday night, Bobby and Dianne put on a spectacular display as they danced to Young Hearts Run Free from Romeo and Juliet for Movie Week

Even as a toddler, Bobby was a stalwart of OK! magazine, where his mother would regularly feature. His debut came when he was less than a month old, appearing with his parents, all three of them sporting designer clothes.

Jeff and Jade split in 2004, not long after their second son, Freddie, now 19, was born. Some will remember Bobby and Freddie making cherubic appearances as page boys at their mother’s wedding to boyfriend Jack Tweed just a month before she died in 2009.

After their mother’s death, Bobby and Freddie went to live with their father, who made significant changes to their lifestyle. Out went the celebrity photoshoots – he didn’t even permit the boys to attend Jade’s very public funeral – and in came a more considered response to their upbringing. Strict legal notices were sent to the Press requesting privacy for the boys so they could grow up away from the glare of publicity.

Jeff raised them single-handedly, before his marriage to PR executive Kate Dwyer in 2018. Today, the brothers credit her for helping to bring them up.

Now, 15 years on, Bobby is back in the spotlight, and his own fame has gone far beyond his mother’s rapid notoriety.

It’s perhaps easy to forget how, after her 64-day stint on Channel 4’s Big Brother in 2002, Jade became the most talked-about person in the country, simultaneously adored for her sense of humour and mocked for her ignorance.

She famously admitted she thought ‘East Angular [Anglia]’ was abroad; that Rio de Janeiro was a footballer; Sherlock Holmes invented the toilet; ‘Pistachio’ painted the Mona Lisa; and Saddam Hussein was a boxer.

While Bobby is far a more grounded character, thanks to his father’s steady approach to child-rearing, he’s certainly inherited his mother’s starry appeal. But make no mistake: for all his seemingly effortless charm, Bobby’s appearance on Strictly is no accident on the part of BBC bosses. Rather, I can reveal, it’s the culmination of a well-considered, long-term plan for Bobby to become one of the Beeb’s go-to stars.

I’m told BBC executives see him as nothing short of their potential saviour – a one-man solution to keep the broadcaster relevant and especially to get younger viewers tuning in. They are bending over backwards to send his career into the stratosphere.

Why? Well, Bobby is equivalent to celebrity royalty for the reality TV watching masses. He ticks every box for cross- generational appeal.

The son of TV presenter Jeff Brazier and the late Jade Goody of Big Brother fame, he was only five when his mother died aged 27, following a very public battle with cervical cancer

Jade Goody was one of the most successful contestants to emerge from Big Brother, pictured with her sons Freddie (left) and Bobby in 2005. She died of cervical cancer in 2009 at just 27

Jeff raised Bobby (left) and his brother single-handedly, before his marriage to PR executive Kate Dwyer in 2018

With 322,000 Instagram followers and more than a quarter of a million fans on TikTok – where he gives a behind-the-scenes look into his life and promotes the modern catnip of ‘positive mental health and wellbeing’ – teenagers adore him, while their mothers fondly remember the travails of his own mother.

As for their grannies, well, they simply adore his impish grin.

It was after Bobby joined EastEnders last year in the role of Freddie Slater – having an immediate impact on viewing figures – and then won a National Television Award for Best Newcomer, that BBC chiefs decided to sign him up for Strictly.

‘Everyone loves him – young people, old people, boys, girls, women and men,’ a source tells me.

‘There are big plans for him. He has the ability to act, but also take part in digital content, which appeals to the youngsters. He has become a star on EastEnders and if the bosses have their way, he is going nowhere for a very long time.’

Within the Beeb, Brazier is cited as the reason why hundreds of thousands of teenagers are now tuning into EastEnders, where his character is a cheeky charmer rather like himself.

I can also reveal that BBC bosses even broke with tradition, following a tug of love within the Corporation over whether Bobby would be allowed to pause his filming commitments for EastEnders while starring on Strictly.

Within the Beeb, Brazier is cited as the reason why hundreds of thousands of teenagers are now tuning into EastEnders, where his character is a cheeky charmer rather like himself

It was after Bobby joined EastEnders last year in the role of Freddie Slater – having an immediate impact on viewing figures – and then won a National Television Award for Best Newcomer, that BBC chiefs decided to sign him up for Strictly

In previous years, contestants from the soap have had to fulfil their gruelling filming schedules, leaving little time to practise for Strictly.

But sources say the BBC is so keen to see Bobby make it to the final that they want him to put his all into the show.

READ MORE: How Jeff Brazier raised sons Bobby and Freddie single-handedly after the ‘ridiculously cruel’ death of their mother Jade Goody from cervical cancer 14 years ago and set out to help others cope with grief

Jeff Brazier with sons Bobby and Freddie in March 2009, shortly after their mother’s death

‘Bobby is a superstar and everyone at the BBC knows that,’ says an insider.

‘The BBC knew the nation would fall in love with him and would follow every moment of his Strictly journey.

‘But it can be really tough doing the show alongside filming for EastEnders, especially in the run-up to Christmas, and it is exhausting. The fact EastEnders have let Bobby off means he has a much better chance of winning Strictly, which is the aim here.’

Some might say the broadcaster has, in effect, skewed the playing field for Bobby’s victory – but, still, there’s no question that this is a role he is more than ready for. Despite his father’s efforts to keep him out of the public eye, he was, you might say, bred for fame during the short time he had with his mother.

Bobby says he doesn’t have many memories of Jade, ‘because I was so young when she died’.

That said, he admits she gave him a taste for the spotlight, which he says he dreamt about from a young age.

‘I think that as a kid it’s all I wanted,’ he says. ‘I was desperate for that when I was younger. I spent so much time making myself ready because I started to believe that could happen and I could have that.

‘When I was 14, 15 – even 12 – I remember having thoughts like that, desires like that. I spent a lot of my childhood just wishing for attention.’

Losing his mother when he was so young could well have destroyed him, but Bobby appears to be the epitome of happiness.

‘I’m always dancing around the house and what not,’ he says.

He has much to be happy about, as he is, say those close to him, on the verge of becoming a millionaire.

His father Jeff, 44, couldn’t be prouder, coming close to tears when Bobby won big at the National Television Awards in September. In the Press room afterwards, Jeff — who made his name on the reality TV show Shipwrecked in the early Noughties — told journalists of his pride that his elder son had grown into such a ‘lovely and amazing man’.

Jeff continues to take his role as Bobby’s mentor seriously, with his son admitting: ‘There are many, many, many, many, many, many people who are thinking things through more than I am, for my own good.’

Today, though, he’s very much in demand with the ladies, after recently splitting from on-off girlfriend Liberty Love – a model and the daughter of The Clash videographer DJ Don Letts – shortly before Strictly began

As with any young person, there have been bumps in the road along the way – namely a spell of trouble at his private school which, by a twist of fate, led to Bobby’s big break.

After misbehaving, the teenager had been suspended three times in two weeks. Jeff took him to a coffee shop near their Essex home for a stern talking to. It was there that Bobby’s model looks were noticed by an agent, who happened to be there, too.

‘On the way out of Costa, the casting agent ran up behind me and gave me his card,’ remembers Bobby. ‘Then I went into this meeting with my headmaster with a big smile on my face.’

Jeff insisted he finish his GCSEs before embarking on a successful career in catwalk modelling, where he worked for Italian luxury brands such as Dolce & Gabbana and Moschino.

Bobby has also admitted that he struggled at his fee-paying school because of his Essex accent, and was later bullied once his classmates knew who his mum was.

He said: ‘At private school, everyone comes from the same generationally rich families, but my parents didn’t. I’ve got insight from both ends of the spectrum, so I felt like I was a bit of a black sheep.’

Today, though, he’s very much in demand with the ladies, after recently splitting from on-off girlfriend Liberty Love – a model and the daughter of The Clash videographer DJ Don Letts – shortly before Strictly began

Since then, numerous members of his army of young female fans have been begging him for a date via his social media channels.

But for now, there’s only one woman in his life: his dance partner Dianne. There may be a 14-year age gap, but the chemistry between them is apparent.

However, Dianne is in a relationship with one of her former Strictly partners, Joe Sugg, 32. The couple recently bought a £2 million home together in Brighton.

In recent weeks, though, there have been rumours that all may not be well between the couple, who met on the show in 2018. Dianne has attempted to silence the gossip by posting loved-up messages to internet star Sugg online.

Meanwhile, Bobby, who appears to have a full handle on the media game, has openly declared his fondness for his professional partner, saying: ‘I could speak about Dianne all day. She’s just a diamond. You know what, I’m falling in love with her.’

And, according to show insiders, Dianne feels the same. But then, seeing as she has been paired with the Beeb’s new golden boy, who can blame her

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