Meet the Crystals: Jay

April 1 2015

Jay

Discover more about Crystal Palace's iconic cheerleaders, the Crystal Girls. Now it's Jay!

Name: Jay.

Age: 23.

Hometown: Woking.

Occupation: Midwife.

Nickname: Jay.

Dance Background and Experience: Not really very much. When I was little I did, what most little girls do, go to ballet and tap and modern once a week. And then when I started my A levels, I just sort of stopped all that and then went off to uni. And since then I haven’t really done much dancing other than with the Crystals.

Words to live by/favourite quote: Just live so that you have no regrets and If you want to do something, do it.

Five words that describe you: Busy, clumsy, happy, loyal and very loving.

One thing most people would be surprised to learn is: I think some people find it quite surprising that I’m a midwife but also that I qualified when I was 21. So it’s quite young and most people obviously think they’re a bit older, like in their thirties and that kind of thing. So I think people are always quite surprised when they find that out. They think, 'oh you’re so young for a midwife'. I delivered my first baby when I was 18.

Biggest Fear: I have a really bad phobia of mannequins, dolls and puppets and things like that. So like Madame Tussauds, I couldn’t go anywhere near. There's a puppet there which is quite creepy, anything like that I just hate.

What would be your superpower? I’d quite like to fly I think, yeah it’d be flying.

Most Embarrassing Moment: I have so many cos I’m quite clumsy. I have my own rhyme. It says, 'clumsy Jane strikes again'. I’m doing stupid things all the time and that’s what people say to me, like loads. I do have a fear that I’m going to fall over on the pitch all the time. Especially when we danced recently and it was so wet, rainy and I thought I’m going to slip over but it was fine.

Dream Job: I love being a midwife but if I could I would want to work with something to do with space, like maybe be an astronaut or work at NASA and something to do with that kind of thing, would be quite good. Or I’d love to be a pilot, I'd really love to do that.

Dream holiday destination: I actually just got back from Australia, so I’d say it's probably there. I think I probably want to go to Africa, somewhere like Kenya and go on a safari and see all the wildlife.

Why did you decide to audition for the Crystals? I actually got messaged by the Crystals on Twitter. I have a season ticket, I go to quite a lot of the games and I tweeted a picture of myself and my dad at the game and the Crystals sent me a message. They said, 'Oh we’ve got auditions, why don’t you come along?' And that’s how I sort of got into it really.

What are some of your Crystals highlights? The first game when we stood in the V and the players came on, and I was facing the Holmesdale. Normally I sit in the lower Holmesdale bit and to actually see what it looked like from the other side and not be in it, it was amazing. And to have the players coming out in front of you and the crowd. That was just so good.

Favorites:

Former Player: Nathaniel Clyne.

Movie: Mary Poppins.

Article of Clothing: I love a onesie.

Phone App: Probably WhatsApp the one I use most.

Cartoon Character: I like Mini Mouse.

TV Show: I like the OC, that’s a good one, One Tree Hill.

Ice Cream: Chocolate.

Junk Food Weakness: Probably Indian or Mexican. Mexican’s my favourite food but for a takeaway I quite like an Indian. If you could get a Mexican takeaway with fajitas, it would be that.

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