Taking the next step

Olympic gymnast and Strictly star Louis Smith can't wait to put on his dancing shoes again, he tells MARION MCMULLEN

- MARION MCMULLEN

Was it hard retiring from gymnastics after winning medals at three separate Olympic Games?

Not for me personally. I know very close friends and team mates that have kind of struggled turning off that tap, but, for me, I had done so much in the sport.

I achieved so much - World Championships, European Championships, Commonwealth Games, British Championships, Olympic medallist - so that at the end of my career, at the ripe old age of 27, I had reached a point when I thought I could try to go to another Olympic Games, but it might not happen because of all the rule changes. I felt very fulfilled, there was no type of regret there. I kind of closed the chapter on that page and started a new life doing something different.

What was it like going from the Olympics to winning Strictly Come Dancing?

I don’t think there was any amount of gymnastics that I could have done that could have helped me prepare for Strictly. It’s unique. You are using completely different muscles and it really took me by surprise. I think the first couple of hours I was laying on the floor complaining about my feet and my professional partner Flavia (Cacace) was like, ‘Oh, this isn’t going to be as easy as I thought’

It also surprised me how technical dancing really was.

How tough was the first dance?

When me and Flavia did the cha-cha, which was our first dance, I think for the first few hours she just had me walking around the room in circles doing cha-cha walks.