Tom Dean appeared embarrassed when pressed about his upcoming appearance on Strictly Come Dancing after he hinted he would be taking part in the new series.
The 24-year-old Olympic gold medallist swimmer appeared on the Capital Breakfast on Tuesday after his team finished first in the freestyle relay at the Summer Olympics.
Tom was extremely excited after Team GB’s big win and accidentally announced that he would be taking part in the upcoming series of the BBC dancing show.
However, during a radio appearance with Jordan North, Chris Stark and Sian Welby, he remained largely tight-lipped about the announcement.
Tom tried to keep the rumours under wraps, but apparently gave the news away when his friend and Capital Breakfast co-host Chris pressed him.
Tom Dean appeared embarrassed when pressed about his upcoming appearance on Strictly Come Dancing after he hinted he would be taking part in the new series
The 24-year-old swimmer, who won a gold medal at the Olympics, appeared on the Capital Breakfast on Tuesday after his team finished first in the freestyle relay at the Summer Olympics (pictured July 2024)
Chris then accidentally let slip that there would be a surprise party for Tom when he returned to the UK later today.
When asked for a response to the claims, Tom remained mum as he appeared on the show via video call from the French capital.
Jordan joked, “It’s gotten a little quiet in Paris!”
While Chris said, “Are we talking about this or not?”
As she encouraged the others to look at Tom’s facial expression, Kemi Rodgers said, “Look at his lips.”
Tom finally said: ‘I’m just concentrating on enjoying the Olympics and spending a lot of time with my teammates. Then I’ll see what the summer brings.’
Chris replied, “Yeah, exactly. Like I said, Tom just tells it like it is. And I think it’s hilarious that I never think you should give these kinds of things away too early. You can get into a lot of trouble for it, so I think he’s just being super professional by not giving it away.”
Tom concluded: ‘Of course. Absolutely. Everything about the Olympics.’
Full of excitement after Team GB’s big win, Tom accidentally announced that he would be appearing in the upcoming series of the BBC dance show
Last week, Tom broke the rules of Strictly Come Dancing by revealing he had signed up to take part in the upcoming series, ahead of the official announcement
The BBC goes to great lengths to keep celebrity participation under wraps and stars generally don’t comment on speculation until it’s officially confirmed (pictured with Matthew Richards)
Jordan joked that he might see Tom there, as there were also rumors that he would be joining the lineup, but then confirmed that would absolutely not be the case.
Chris joked, “Tom neither…”
Tom added: ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about, I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
Last week, Tom broke Strictly Come Dancing rules by revealing he had signed up to take part in the upcoming series, ahead of the official announcement.
He follows in the footsteps of his teammate Adam Peaty and confirmed recent reports that he will participate.
The BBC goes to great lengths to keep the celebrities who are taking part in a series secret. Actors generally do not comment on speculation until it is officially confirmed.
Tom confirmed he is getting ready to hit the dance floor when he spoke after the men’s 200m individual medley at the Paris Olympics on Thursday.
He said: ‘Of course you want to take a break after you’ve had a full Olympic cycle and the opportunity arose. I thought it would be really exciting to try something different. I’m going to do that and then I’ll go straight back to training.
Tom also confirmed that he will seek advice from his teammate Adam Peaty, who danced with Katya Jones in the 2021 series.
He said, “It’s something to look forward to. I haven’t seen [Adam] not yet. He did a brilliant job so I’ll definitely get some tips from him.
‘I don’t do well on the water in gravity sports. I throw myself into it and I know how hard a day of training is, so I’m looking forward to it.
“I guess we’ll find out. It’s something to look forward to and when I’ve finished this, at home, relaxing a bit with the family and then we’ll be off and running at the end of August. It’s exciting.”
In 2015, radio DJ Scott Mills revealed the lengths to which the BBC goes to keep the programming of each series secret.
He said, ‘They’re so afraid of who’s on it leaking out that it’s a big secret.
“It’s obvious that the newspapers are trying to guess all the time. They try to keep it so secret that they give everyone a code name every year. I felt like I was in James Bond – it was so cool.”
Tom was part of the British relay team that won gold in the men’s 4x200m freestyle at the Olympics in Paris on Tuesday.
Tom also confirmed he will seek advice from his teammate Adam Peaty, who danced with Katya Jones in the 2021 series
Tom said: ‘I don’t do very well out of the water in gravity sports. I’m really going to throw myself into it and I know how hard a day of training is, so I’m looking forward to it’
A source said The sun about Tom’s signing: ‘It’s quite an achievement for the producers to bring in an Olympian who just won gold in Paris, and swimmers turn out to be great competitors.
‘They are often a sensation because of their fitness, competitiveness and sheer determination to win. And Tom will still be excited about his victory in France.
‘He doesn’t quite have the same profile as other top swimmers yet, but that will probably change dramatically after his time on Strictly.
Tom from Berks won three gold and two silver medals at the 2002 European Championships in the team events and an individual bronze medal in the 200 m freestyle.
He also won two gold medals at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, in the men’s 200-meter freestyle and the men’s 4×200-meter freestyle relay.
The swimmer was appointed MBE in the 2022 New Year Honours.
Tom is far from the first swimmer to try his luck on Strictly. Ellie Simmonds recently competed in the 2022 series, while Adam competed in the 2021 series and Mark Foster competed in the 2008 series.