Swim legend Ellie Simmonds was “super excited” to be chosen for Strictly Come Dancing yesterday.
She described it as a real honour to represent people with disability, following the victory of deaf EastEnders actor Rose Ayling-Ellis with pro Giovanni Pernice last year.
“I’ll be so, so nervous, and I will try not to think of all the people watching,” said Ellie, who attended the Commonwealth Games yesterday.
“My family and friends will support me and help me stay grounded.
“I am the first dwarf doing the show, I will show how positive that is, that to be different is OK. It is a real honour.”
Walsall-born Ellie, 27, has kept the news secret for months.
She said: “It has been so hard, you just want to tell everyone. I told my other half Matt, and my parents, but I only told my sister this morning. It is a family tradition to watch it every year.
“To be part of it is so exciting. It’ll be great to swap the goggles and the hat for the sequences and the make-up.”
Ellie was born with achondroplasia, a type of dwarfism, and is 4ft. She quit swimming with a host of honours after last year’s Tokyo Paralympics.
She joins comedian Jayde Adams, Coronation Street actors Will Mellor and Kym Marsh, Loose Women star Kaye Adams and Radio 2’s Richie Anderson in the Strictly line up.
