Shannon Matthews could easily have been forgiven for letting her mind wander when a male stripper flashed his come-to-bed eyes at her as he gyrated around the stage. But that dream became a reality when the dancer asked her out after a show.
Now, Shannon, 24, is engaged to Dreamboys’ leader Jordan Darrell, 37, and the pair have a one-year-old son together.
"I still can’t believe I bagged a Dreamboy"
She says, “I still can’t believe I bagged a Dreamboy. Who’d have thought that a sexy strip show would lead me to the man of my dreams?”
In 2018, Shannon spotted an advert on social media for a ladies’ night at their local nightclub in Plymouth, Devon, that included a show by the Dreamboys strippers. She says, “I thought it would be a laugh, so my friend Ellie and I booked some VIP tickets complete with backstage passes so we could meet the dancers after the show. I’d even bought calendars for the Dreamboys to sign.”
With pink cocktails in hand, Ellie and Shannon took their seats as the dancers began to strut their stuff. Shannon says, “As soon as they started moving, I realised this was so much more than a strip show. The choreography was complex and dazzling.”
"He gave me a lap dance with a flirty twinkle in his eye"
Throughout the first half, Shannon noticed one of the hunks kept flashing her a steamy, intense gaze but she assumed he looked at all the ladies that way. She says, “I made a joke to Ellie that he fancied me, but I didn’t actually believe that I’d caught his attention among the hundreds of other screaming women.”
Then, during the second half, the performers set a chair down in the middle of the stage. Before Shannon knew it, she’d been pulled onstage.
Shannon recalled, “The music changed to a slow, sexy number, and the hunk who’d caught my eye earlier strutted over to my seat on the stage. Though it was embarrassing at first, I felt completely comfortable as he gave me a lap dance with a flirty twinkle in his eye.
“All I could think was that it was the best night of my life, and when the song ended, and I had to go back into the audience, my legs felt like jelly.”
After the show, the pair waited backstage, and soon Shannon’s dancer introduced himself as Jordan. She says, “He asked me if he could take me out on a date, and we exchanged numbers. On one hand I couldn’t believe I’d bagged a Dreamboy, but I didn’t hold out hope, as I thought he must give his number out to loads of women.”
"He wasn’t really supposed to date me"
She was thrilled when Jordan rang her the next day to arrange a date, and they chatted for hours. He’d been a backing dancing for Rita Ora before joining Dreamboys, and eventually took over as the group’s leader, as well as the choreographer of all their routines. Shannon says, “Jordan told me that he wasn’t really supposed to date me as it was against company policy, but as he was the leader he could make his own rules. He said the other dancers had all told him to go for it.”
“My mum kept asking when she could see his show!”
For their first date, Jordan and Shannon met in London, where they instantly clicked and enjoyed a day seeing the sights. They had so much fun that Shannon missed her train back home. Shannon says, “Jordan gave me a cheeky look and said that he guessed I was staying with him. I told him it certainly looked that way! Our romance just grew from there.”
After three months, they moved in together, and while their whirlwind romance came as a shock, even to them, Shannon’s family were supportive and not fazed by Jordan’s profession at all. Shannon says, “My mum kept asking when she could see his show!”
The pair went from strength to strength and in December 2021 went on holiday to Cornwall, where he proposed. They began planning a wedding, but Shannon soon fell pregnant.
"We think Ruben is a natural-born performer, just like his daddy.”
Shannon says, “Jordan was grinning from ear to ear when I told him he was going to be a father. It was so sweet.”
Nine months later, Shannon gave birth to baby Ruben, and the couple fell in love with him immediately. They decided to hold off on getting married at least until Ruben could walk so he could have a role in the wedding as the ring bearer. Shannon says, “Jordan is an amazing dad, and even took Ruben to the Dreamboys rehearsals, bopping away with him curled up in his arms. Now he’s a bit older, he loves to dance around too. We think Ruben is
a natural-born performer, just like his daddy.”
Now, Shannon and Jordan are planning on getting married in the next few years.
She says, “People ask me if Jordan’s work bothers me, but it really doesn’t. At the end of the day, he’s a professional dancer with some saucy moves. I don’t mind crowds of women fawning all over him at the shows either, as I’m the one who gets to go home with him. It’s a dream come true!”
Follow Jordan on Instagram @jordandarrell. For more information on Dreamboys, visit dreamboys.co.uk