EXCLUSIVE Bobby Brazier’s gran banned from Strictly audience over bitter family feud but is desperate to watch grandson in the dance final
He’s won a legion of fans lighting up the Strictly dancefloor, often cheered on from the sidelines by his father and brother.
But one of Bobby Brazier’s biggest supporters has been kept away from the audience over a heartbreaking family rift.
Because of a falling-out with Bobby’s father, Jeff Brazier, his maternal grandmother Jackiey Budden has been unable to secure a seat at any of this series’ live shows.
Poignantly, it meant that she missed his emotional tribute to his late mother – and her only child – Jade Goody a fortnight ago.
Friends of the family say that Ms Budden and Mr Brazier, who has looked after the boys since Ms Goody’s death in 2009, fell out some years back and have not been able to repair their relationship.
Dianne Buswell and Bobby Brazier during their appearance on the live show on Saturday for BBC1’s Strictly Come Dancing
Jackiey Budden on ITV’s ‘Good Morning Britain’ TV show
Jady Goody and her boyfriend Jeff brazier in the early 2000s
Only last week the 66-year-old described the television presenter, who has been attending the shows at Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire with youngest son Freddy, as a ‘c**k’.
But sources say that Ms Budden is now desperate to make peace so that she might be able to get a ticket to watch her grandson in next week’s Strictly final if he gets through tonight’s semis.
Contestants are given only two seats for their friends and family, though more can be allocated in special circumstances.
One friend told the Mail: ‘Jeff and Jackiey haven’t got on for a long time and it has been hard.
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‘It has meant that Jackiey hasn’t been able to be in the audience to watch Bobby, things are just too bad between her and his father. He and his brother Freddy are her only grandchildren and she adores them, there is nothing she would love more than to be there to watch him live.
‘Jeff has been a brilliant father to those boys and has tried to navigate through many difficulties. It is a very, very sad situation. There is nothing Jackiey would like more than to go to the final but there is very little chance of that.’
In September Ms Budden was forced to pay for her own ticket to watch Bobby, 20, pick up the rising star award at the National Television Awards.
Mr Brazier, 45, has put the fall-out down to Ms Budden buying the two boys inappropriate presents such as phones and even a hamster which he has had to confiscate or give back.
In 2021 Bobby confirmed in an Instagram video that he was back in contact with his grandmother after losing touch.
He said: ‘I didn’t see her for ages – for way too long – but I went to see her twice recently. And honestly if there’s one woman you shouldn’t underestimate, it’s my nan. Honestly, she’s like a wizard! It’s nuts.’
Meanwhile, Bobby told the Mail of how he was inundated with letters following his tribute dance to his mother, who died of cervical cancer when he was just four years old. He said: ‘There’s been a lot (of letters). I haven’t opened or read a lot of them but I’ve seen there’s been a lot of people writing.
‘We connected to a lot of people and communicated and translated something and that’s what I wanted to do. I think that’s what happens when you dance authentically and from your heart. I’m really glad that that happened.’
The EastEnders actor also confessed that he ‘loved’ his status as a sex symbol among his army of young fans, thanks to his Strictly performances.
Tonight Bobby and his professional dance partner Dianne Buswell, 34, will perform a quickstep to Mack The Knife by Bobby Darin and a paso doble to Run Boy Run by Woodkid.
He will be up against Coronation Street actress Ellie Leach, West End performer Layton Williams and tennis star Annabel Croft to win a place in the final.
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