Strictly Come Dancing’s Greg Rutherford had a ‘complete meltdown’ over training

The Olympian said he struggled to pick up the moves as quickly as his fellow contestants
Struggling: Greg Rutherford with Natalie Lowe
BBC/ Guy Levy
Emma Powell23 September 2016
The Weekender

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Olympian Greg Rutherford has revealed he had a “meltdown” after signing up for Strictly Come Dancing.

Rutherford, 29 - who won a bronze medal for longjump at the Rio Olympics – said he struggled to pick up the dance moves as quickly as his co-stars.

Speaking to The Sun he said: “On our first group training day, I had a complete meltdown. Everyone else was doing so great, picking everything up.”

The Olympic gold medallist said he was dragged back to the dance floor by his professional partner Natalie Lowe.

“Everyone is so good, so it does worry me. Natalie found me hiding in another room and literally hauled me back to the dance class.”

He continued: “If I wasn’t doing Strictly I’d just be getting fat, so I thought the time was right. They’d asked me since 2013. I’m really enjoying it.”

Rutherford will face tough competition when the BBC ballroom show kicks off tonight.

He is among a host of stars including Laura Whitmore, Will Young, Melvin Odoom, Daisy Lowe and Ed Balls - who has also felt the pressure.

The former Shadow Chancellor recently revealed his fear of being the only contestant with 'dad moves'.

Strictly Come Dancing 2016 - dance partners

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“The standard is high, a bit too high to be honest,” he told the Huffington Post at the TV Choice Awards.

“I was hoping that there were going to be a few people who clearly couldn’t dance at all. And other than me they don’t seem to be there.”

Strictly Come Dancing is on BBC One tonight at 9pm.

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