Ugo Monye has said he thinks his rugby career will stand him in good stead for Strictly Come Dancing.
The former England player, who now works as a pundit, is among the competitors who will be taking to the dancefloor in the new series of the BBC celebrity dancing competition.
When asked if his rugby career will help him in the competition, Monye said: “Yes, because I love to work hard.
“I think if there’s one asset or aspect of myself that I can rely upon, it is that I’ll work really hard and be really diligent.
“I like to believe that I’m a better pupil now than I was at school.
“I like to listen and to learn and that’s going to be a big part of it, so I think that self-motivation, being slightly competitive, I’m hoping that’ll give me a good foundation to do what I can do.”
Monye added that he think dances that are “high-paced, powerful, rhythmic” will suit him best.
He added: “I think considering everything that I’ve done in my career rugby-wise, you’re actually built to be stiff, robust.
“So for example, pointing your toes, you need to have flexible ankles, where I’ve spent 14 years of my career trying to have stiff ankles.”
Monye said appearing on Strictly is “something I’ve actually wanted to do for a little while”.
“There’s also a big part of me whereby I’ve got two young daughters, Phoenix and Ruby… and they never got to watch me play rugby.
“And my eldest daughter Phoenix starts school next week.
“She loves dancing, and she loves ballet and I just know she’d be so super excited watching this.
“So there’s a big part of me that also wants to do it for them.”
Strictly Come Dancing returns to BBC One on Saturday.
