Paralympic swimming champion Ellie Simmonds has been announced as a contestant for this year’s Strictly Come Dancing, saying she’s delighted to be the first contestant with dwarfism to take part in the show.
Simmonds stated to the BBC that she is embracing the competition, which will return for its 20th anniversary in September. “once in a lifetime” opportunity: “I’m so excited, I just want to enjoy every second and try out the sequins and costumes.
“I’ll be the first dwarf doing this show and I just want to show how positive it is – being different is okay.”
In 2008, Simmonds became Britain’s youngest ever athlete to compete in the Summer Paralympics – then aged 13 – and was named BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year the same year.
She won two golds medals at those Games, as well as two more at London Paralympics. A fifth was in Rio in 2016.
Since then, she has commented on the sport and produced two documentaries. Ellie Simmonds: A World without Dwarfism
Strictly Come Dancing, the BBC’s flagship primetime show that has sold versions around the world under the banner Dancing with the Starsmade history last year with the first ever same-sex pairing in the show, and also featuring its first deaf contestant, Rose Ayling-Ellis, who went on to win the competition.