Strictly Come Dancing star Joe Sugg reveals he was 'terrified' when BBC bosses first approached him

The YouTube star will make his dance floor debut next month
Terrified: Joe Sugg admitted he thought he would reject the show through fear
Thos Robinson/Getty Images for Stream Con
Natasha Sporn14 August 2018

YouTube star Joe Sugg has revealed that he was “terrified” when he was first approached for Strictly Come Dancing, branding the show “outside his comfort zone”.

The 26-year-old became the fourth contestant to be announced for this year’s series, unveiling his appearance on breakfast radio on Tuesday .

Hours later, the brother of vlogger Zoella returned to the platform that made him famous to open up to his subscribers – under his channel name ThatcherJoe - about doing the show and share the special moment he agreed to sign up.

Sugg explained: “Back at the start of the year, I got approached and asked if I wanted to be on the show. And in my mind, I can’t ever imagine doing something like this.

“I’d be way too scared, terrified. I’ve never danced sober in my life. I'm terrified of big crowds, anything that's live and dancing.”

Sugg said that he was sure he was going to go in and decline the offer but enjoyed the meeting and made a pros and cons list to signing up for the show, eventually deciding to do it.

YouTube star: Joe Sugg is the first vlogger to appear on Strictly Come Dancing (Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images)
Getty Images

Sugg continued: “I think this is something that is massively out of my comfort zone and something that I thought ‘you know what? You’ve got to face [it]’.

“You’ve got to face your fears and step outside your comfort zone. Life is too short to miss opportunities like this.”

Fans were also shown the moment Sugg signed his contract, which Sugg explained would give him a better platform to show his work to his grandparents who are massive fans of the show.

Sugg was revealed on Tuesday morning, appearing on Scott Mills' Radio 1 Breakfast Show.

He said: “My knowledge of dance isn't the best, so I'm just going to go into it completely open minded.

“I do feel pretty nervous about it. I just hope they have child sizes as I'm tiny!”

​Sugg joins Katie Piper, Faye Tozer and Danny John-Jules in the series 16 line-up with more celebrities to be announced in due course.

Strictly Come Dancing returns to BBC One next month.

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