After 22 years as a referee, the notoriously eccentric Mike Dean is hanging up his whistle at the end of the season.
The Premier League official has become famous for his flamboyant refereeing style, including his memorable celebration of a Tottenham goal in 2015, after he played the advantage which led to Moussa Dembele scoring.
As he approaches his retirement from refereeing, speculation about what the official plans to do next has been rife.
While the 53-year-old is expected to remain in the game as a full-time VAR official, there’s also been some more entertaining ideas about what he might get up to.
With BBC's Strictly Come Dancing returning in September - with brand new judge Anton Du Beke confirmed to replace Bruno Tonioli - Dean has been rumoured as one of the new contestants.
What are the odds of Mike Dean going on Strictly?
Rumours that Mike Dean could be heading to the Strictly ballroom first stated last year, when he revealed that he’d dabbled with ballroom dancing as a teenager.
Appearing on Soccer AM legend Tubes’ YouTube channel, he said: "I used to do a bit of ballroom dancing years ago.
"But then I kind of stopped when I got to 18, it wasn't the in-thing to do at 18. But it is now isn't it."
Tubes went on to ask Dean if he’d ever consider going on Strictly, and it seemed he’d be up for the gig.
He answered: "I think if I got asked, you can't not consider it can you.
"[Football fans] would watch me make a t** of myself on a Saturday night, they'd be up for that.
"I'd give it a go. If you got asked why shouldn't you? It would be a good laugh I suppose."
Rumours returned this year when Dean announced his retirement, and bookmakers William Hill revealed that there was a 4/1 chance that he could be swapping his football boots for dancing shoes.
William Hill spokesperson, Tony Kenny, said: “Mike Dean has been a mainstay of the Premier League for over two decades but after he announced he was hanging up his whistle for good, we think he’ll be inundated with offers in other fields of work.
“The word is he used to do a bit of ballroom dancing and so looks tailor-made for an appearance on Strictly Come Dancing at 4/1, while he also looks a solid contender to head Down Under for a stint on I’m A Celeb at 8/1.”
But nothing has been confirmed yet, and rumours are also circulating that the referee could be heading to the Australian jungle instead of the ballroom, with Sky Bet currently putting his odds to be a contestant on I'm A Celebrity 2022 at 4/5.
