I’M A Celebrity star Sam Quek is the latest celebrity to sign for Strictly Come Dancing.
The former Team GB Hockey star won gold in the Rio Olympics, and went on to launch a presenting career covering the Tokyo Games in 2020 and becoming team captain on A Question of Sport.
Liverpudlian Sam, 35, joining the line-up comes just two days after swimmer Tom Dean, who won gold in Paris this week, was revealed as another Strictly signing.
A TV insider said: “The show is really tapping into the buzz surrounding the Olympics this year, as well as heavily leaning into BBC talent – perhaps more than ever before.
“But Sam has very much become a star in her own right in recent years, and has been carving out a niche as a presenter.
“She’ll also bring some much-needed glamour to this year’s line-up.”
Sam is no stranger to reality TV having appeared on I’m A Celebrity back in in 2016.
She narrowly missed out on a place in the final three back and the series was eventually won by Scarlett Moffatt.
The Sun exclusively revealed this week that deaf Love Island star Tasha Ghouri, 25, had also signed for Strictly.
Up to that point the line-up of celebrities felt very male dominated as they included Arsenal and England footballer Paul Merson, 56, blind comedian Chris McCausland, 47, EastEnders star Jamie Borthwick, 30, reality TV star Pete Wicks, 37, and DIY SOS host Nick Knowles, 61.
Meanwhile, swimmer Tom, who won the men’s 4 x 200m freestyle on Tuesday night, risked getting himself in hot water with the Beeb.
He confirmed The Sun’s story he had signed for Strictly – but that was ahead of the BBC publicly confirming it.
He said: “Naturally you want to take a break after you’ve had a full Olympic cycle and the opportunity arose.
“I thought it would be really exciting to try something a bit different. I’ll be doing that and straight back into training after it. It’s something to look forward to.”
Stars of the show usually don’t comment on whether they are taking part until the official line-up is revealed by the BBC.
Bosses go to great lengths to keep their line-up under wraps each year – including using code names and top secret locations for shooting.
But the three-time Olympic champion confirmed our story and said he plans to seek advice from Team GB team-mate Adam Peaty, who finished ninth on the BBC show in 2021, alongside professional dancer Katya Jones.
The BBC will start officially revealing the full celebrity line-up from Monday.
