Simon Rimmer on the ‘Strictly curse’ and taking his top off
The TV chef has brushed off the so-called ‘Strictly curse’.
Simon Rimmer says his wife has no concerns about the so-called ‘Strictly curse’ while he competes on the BBC One series.
The TV cook and Sunday Brunch presenter was the seventh celebrity to be announced for this year’s Strictly Come Dancing line-up.
Rimmer, 54, who lives in Manchester with his wife Ali and kids, said: “I’m married with two kids. She (my wife) rolls her eyes a lot and shakes her head.
“In terms of the alleged curse of Strictly, we were out with friends the other week and one of our friends said ‘Are you not worried about it?’ and Ali said: ‘So let me get this straight then: a really fit young beautiful dancer is going to be tempted to be wooed away by my lumbering 54-year-old husband who can’t dance’.
“So, she’s not worried…”.
Contestants who have split from their partners include Countdown’s Rachel Riley, X Factor presenter Caroline Flack and rugby player Ben Cohen, who is now in a relationship with former Strictly pro dancer Kristina Rihanoff.
“But at the moment it’s going to have to be some pretty intense training to get to that point,” he said, adding: “I think Aston (Merrygold) and Davood (Ghadami) and Jonnie (Peacock) are the boys who’ll be topless… Brian (Conley) just because he will, really.”
He reckoned Merrygold was “head and shoulders above everyone else” in the dance stakes.
Asked if the former JLS singer had an unfair advantage having been in a boyband, Rimmer said: “I am hoping, as much as I hate the expression, it is about the journey. My starting point is never having danced before so I have a far steeper learning curve than Aston.
