Strictly Come Dancing’s Harry Aikines-Aryeetey has admitted he does have a ‘bit of an advantage’ after he competed in the show’s Christmas special last year.
The Gladiators favourite, 37, is set to take to the ballroom floor at Elstree Studios this weekend after he was the first celebrity announced for this year’s BBC dance show line-up.
Otherwise known as Nitro, Aikines-Aryeetey took part in last year’s Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special partnered with Nancy Xu, after an injury ruled him out of Gladiators.
Ahead of the Strictly launch, the former Olympian spoke with Metro and other press about where he stands in the competition after having a taste of the Strictly magic.
He said: ‘Do I have an advantage having done Christmas? I’d say yes and no.
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‘In one sense, I know what to expect given the audience, but I didn’t actually get to learn a dance. I was coming off the back of my knee injury, so I wasn’t allowed to do too much.
‘It was a bit of a taster run. I’m quite excited now, because I think I can give a full account of myself.’
While Aikines-Aryeetey said he’s ‘much better’, he admitted he was scared he would never be the same after sustaining an injury to his knee in training for Gladiators, forcing him to withdraw from the second series.
‘It was really concerning, because I didn’t think I’d be myself again,’ he told us. ‘I didn’t think I’d be able to run fast again. I didn’t think I’d be able to Gladiate again.
‘So being able to do the Christmas special gave me a bit of hope to go on. I know that, Gladiators, I can smash that now.
‘For me now, I can actually just enjoy the process, not worry about anything, having just been able to start walking.’
The father of one admitted he’s still anticipating some body changes from competing on the show, after Montell Douglas – who competes as Fire on Gladiators – warned him he will likely lose muscle, after she appeared on the 2024 series of Strictly.
‘I’m waiting to see what that’s going to look like, and if it does, then great, because then I can eat more,’ he laughed.
‘So what I did do in preparation, I did try to fluff a little bit so the diet has been quite high in calories, lots of pizzas.’
Strictly Come Dancing airs on BBC One and iPlayer from September 20.
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