British swimmer Tom Dean has announced that he will be part of this year’s Strictly Come Dancing line-up, making him the first celebrity to reveal their participation.
Dean, 24, recently contributed to Team GB’s success by retaining their men’s 4x200m freestyle title at the Paris Olympics and is set to compete in the men’s 200m individual medley final on Friday.
Reflecting on his decision to join Strictly, Dean said, “Naturally, you want to take a break after a full Olympic cycle, and the opportunity arose. I thought it would be really exciting to try something a bit different,” as reported by the PA news agency.
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Dean, a three-time Olympic champion, will become the ninth swimmer to participate in Strictly. He plans to seek advice from fellow British swimmer Adam Peaty, who competed on the show in 2021 and finished ninth. “I’ve not seen [Adam] yet. He did brilliantly on it, so I’ll be getting a few tips from him, for sure,” Dean said.
Earlier this week, Dean, alongside teammates James Guy, Matt Richards, and Duncan Scott, made history by becoming the first swimming team to defend an Olympic relay title with the same quartet in the men’s 4x200m freestyle relay final. Despite admitting that he doesn’t “do too well out of water,” Dean is eager to “throw himself into” the dance competition and believes his rigorous training background will serve him well.
In addition to Dean, other celebrities rumored to join this year’s Strictly include Ted Lasso star Hannah Waddingham, DIY SOS presenter Nick Knowles, and former Arsenal player Paul Merson.
Dean’s announcement comes amid ongoing controversy regarding the treatment of some contestants on the BBC show. Allegations made by former dance partner Amanda Abbington against Giovanni Pernice. Abbington claimed their rehearsals would sometimes “descend into chaos,” stating, “I was trying my best and I know I don’t deserve to be spoken to like that. I was coming into the rehearsal room with a positive outlook to do my best, and that was not being reciprocated.”
Abbington, said she recognized “red flags and bad behavior” due to past experiences and emphasized that women should be able to address such issues without fear.
Pernice has denied the allegations of “threatening or abusive behavior,” with his spokesperson urging people to await the review’s conclusion and not to give weight to what they called “very serious and defamatory allegations that have no evidence in support of them.”
Additionally, professional dancers Pernice and Graziano Di Prima have both exited the show. Di Prima’s departure follows an incident where he admitted to kicking his partner Zara McDermott during a rehearsal last year. Expressing regret, Di Prima acknowledged that his “intense passion and determination to win might have affected my training regime.”
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