The second star to ‘sign up’ for the upcoming season of Strictly Come Dancing is also an Olympian.
Earlier this week Olympic swimmer Tom Dean, who clinched a gold medal in Paris, confirmed he was joining the long-running BBC series before the line-up was even announced.
His reveal came as the scandal-plagued series has been battling months of controversy surrounding the alleged toxic atmosphere backstage.
Despite concerns the national broadcaster would be facing trouble to find contestants for this season, there have been several famous faces eager to compete.
One of them is reportedly former Team GB Hockey star Sam Quek, who won gold with her team at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
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Sam, 35, then went on to launch a presenting career and covered the Tokyo games before becoming team captain on A Question of Sport the following year.
She’s already appeared on reality TV twice too – on I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! in 2016 and Celebrity MasterChef in 2020, where she reached the final three.
‘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,’ a source told The Sun about her signing.
‘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.’
Earlier this week other names in the mix for the line-up were announced, with former Love Island star Tasha Ghouri, reality TV star Pete Wicks, and DIY SOS host Nick Knowles, said to be appearing on the upcoming 20th anniversary season.
The BBC is set to start officially revealing the full celebrity line-up from Monday.
When revealing he’s signed up for the show, Tom 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. I’ve not seen [Adam] yet. He did brilliantly on it so I’ll be getting a few tips from him, for sure.’
The three-time Olympic champion also said he planned to seek advice from Team GB team-mate Adam Peaty, who competed on the show in 2021 with pro partner Katya Jones.
Other elite athletes to have competed in the series over the years include Olympic gymnast Claudia Fragapane, Paralympic swimming medalist Lauren Steadman and bronze medalist Louis Smith.
Metro.co.uk has contacted the BBC and representatives for Sam Quek for comment.
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