Strictly’s Louis Smith says BBC show was ‘harder’ than training for Olympics

Louis Smith may have won several Olympic medals but that was a walk in the park compared to his stint on Strictly Come Dancing.

The gymnast who competed in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, London 2012 and the 2016 Rio Olympics claims he'd rather take on the global games.

Louis, 33, became the first British gymnast to be placed at an Olympic event since 1928 having won Silver and Bronze medals at all three games in the Pommel horse segment.

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Speaking exclusively to Daily Star, the dad-of-one said he had no idea what he was getting himself in for when he signed up for Strictly.

"I would personally say it's [Strictly Come Dancing], is harder than training for the Olympic games," he said, before continuing: "Only because the gymnastics side of things, I'm used to it, I've been doing it since I was four-years-old.

"So what might seem impossible to someone to us, it was relatively normal.

"Whereas going into learning to ballroom dance, I was doing twice as many hours as I was doing gymnastics."

Louis went on to say: "I was doing something completely different I was out of my comfort zone, I was using muscles that hadn't used before, so the whole thing was exhausting.

"It was fun and when you start to get the grasp of the dance towards the end of the week, you can relax a little.

"I'd say the first Monday to Wednesday is the most exhausting thing I've ever had to do, week after week."

Louis added that the show is "mentally and physically" exhausting but praised the programme saying it is one of the "most rewarding" things he has done over his career.

The star added: "I met some incredible people and it introduced me to the entertainment world, it was a great kind of introduction because I was rubbing shoulders with so many people who had been in this world for years.

"Denise Van Outen, Kimberley Walsh, Lisa Riley and I remember racking their brains, I remember reading some headlines and thinking 'this isn't what sports journalists are like' and they were like 'let it go, it is what it is'.

"It was almost like a baptism by fire but I had people there to kind of guide me through it, which was nice."

Louis competed with professional dancer Flavia Cacace and found himself sailing through the competition and was saved by the public vote week, after week.

The pair went on to dance the Charleston to Dr. Wanna Do in the final before being crowned the winner with a score of 39.

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