Strictly's Ellie Simmonds explains how Nikita is adapting dances for her dwarfism

Paralympic swimmer Ellie Simmonds is part of an exciting lineup on this year’s series of Strictly Come Dancing. Off the dance floor, Ellie is an incredibly talented swimmer and won two gold medals for Team GB at the Beijing 2008 Paralympics - when she was just 13 years old. Last year during the Tokyo Olympics, Ellie announced her retirement from the world of swimming which gave her much time to spend in her lovely home.

Strictly Come Dancing star Ellie Simmonds has spoken out about her fears ahead of joining the competition. "My biggest fear about competing on the show is that it's all new. It's the unknown," says Ellie, 27, in an exclusive chat with OK!.

Strictly Come Dancing star Ellie Simmonds has revealed she sees Rose Ayling-Ellis as an "inspiration" - and says we need to "celebrate" diversity.It comes as the show faced a backlash from critics claiming the show is a "woke box-ticking exercise" for casting same-sex couples and contestants with disabilities.Paralympic swimmer Ellie, 27, has won four gold medals for Great Britain and bagged 10 world records during her amazing athletic career.READ MORE:Strictly's Hamza Yassin slams 'woke' claims and defends co-star from 'nonsense' criticsBut she's ditched the pool for the famous BBC ballroom, where she's competing with show pro #Nikita Kuzmin for a chance to win yet another competition.Ellie told Daily Star and other press that we need to "celebrate" the fact that everybody's different, praising the show's inclusive nature as it gives children something to "relate to".Asked if she sees Rose as an inspiration, she confirmed: "Yeah, yeah. No definitely.

Strictly Come Dancing star Anton Du Beke, 57, and Hannah tied the knot at Cliveden House Hotel in 2017 after admitting it was love at first sight for him.The couple managed to keep their big day under wraps with only limited loved ones in attendance and no reception in the evening.The Strictly jude said the couple settled for a small wedding, an afternoon tea and then went back home to bed. He told Hello! Magazine: "Some people like a huge celebration, but I didn't feel comfortable with that because it's a very intimate moment and I just wanted to get married to Hannah."The couple met at a party back in 2012 and got together shortly after.In the same year as their wedding, his wife fell pregnant with twins three months into IVF treatment.Richard Gere's mortality fears as he hopes to live to see kids grow upOn March 30, she gave birth to their daughter Henrietta and son George.Anton's wife has been open about her struggles with conceiving in recent years.Speaking to Lorraine Kelly in 2021, Hannah spilled that she told the dancer about her battle with endometriosis pretty early on.She explained: "The problem with me is, it's quite hard to hide."It was one of those things where on a monthly basis, I looked like I was six months pregnant."Hannah suffered from swelling which often resulted in people asking her if she was expecting.Sitting by her side, Anton added: "It's one of those perverse things endometriosis, where if you're a woman who wants to have children and you have endometriosis and you find you can't have children, then the bloating looks like you're pregnant."People are like, 'Oh marvellous, you must be so delighted,' it's sort of compounded somehow."'Part of dwarfism' James Jordan corrected after Ellie Simmonds

STRICTLY star Ellie Simmonds' parents opened up about their fears for their daughter after she signed up for the BBC dance show. Five-time Paralympic gold medallist swimmer Ellie, 27, who is the BBC show’s first contestant with dwarfism, had the crowd on their feet with an energetic cha-cha-cha to Dance by DNCE last week.

Ellie Simmonds may have wowed us all with her impressive dancing skills on Strictly Come Dancing, but the Paralympic swimmer admitted she’s been targeted by trolls online and it has really affected her. Ellie, 27, who has achondroplasia dwarfism, said: “I’ve had it already. Some people have said, ‘How’s the dwarf going to dance?’ It’s sad and it does get to you.'" Despite the keyboard warriors’ cruel comments, the gold medal-winning athlete has already been praised by notoriously harsh judge Craig Revel Horwood for her fantastic timing, rhythm and attitude.

Strictly Come Dancing co-stars, dance pro Nikita Kuzmin and his celeb partner Ellie Simmonds.The Spanish dancer, 32, reshared a sweet snap of the partnership ahead of the second week of the show.In view of his 703,000 followers, Gorka voiced his support for Nikita and Ellia.The Strictly pro reposted a picture of the duo which paralympian Ellie has shared to her stories.In the pic, Nikita affectionately had his arm around Elie's shoulder as she beamed while hugging him around his waist.The swimming champion also revealed that the Spaniard was the one who took a snap of the sweet moment.Ellie wrote: "@gorka_marquez bringing out his incredible camera...

Ellie Simmonds and her Strictly Come Dancing dance partner Nikita Kuzmin appeared on This Morning last Friday to talk about their Strictly journey so far.After earning an impressive score of 28 in week on doing the cha cha cha, they said that this week they will be dancing that waltz.Simmonds said that this week had been hard during rehearsal.READ MORE: Strictly winner Rose Ayling-Ellis begs fans to stop comparing her to Ellie Simmonds Her dance partner said: “Not going to lie, this has been a really hard week, a really hard week in the beginning.“But, I can say proudly that I got Ellie to smile yesterday evening! So that was a good result, we can finally start smiling and enjoying it so that’s good."Simmonds, who has the most common type of dwarfism, achondroplasia, said that she “just couldn’t get it” for this week’s routine.“I kept seeing you doing it and I was trying to do it. I’d get one move and then I couldn’t remember the next move.”Asked what adaptions he’s had to make for Simmonds during dance routines, Kuzmin said: “Realistically, it’s quite a lot but at the same time we still have the same technique, we still have the same basic rules.”He said that he’s enjoying having her as a dance partner as it allows for him to “think outside out the box”.

Former Strictly Come Dancing pro AJ Pritchard has clashed with TV host Jeremy Kyle after the latter branded the show "so woke it's unwatchable". Jeremy - who used to have his own self-named show on ITV - was filling in for Piers Morgan on Wednesday’s Piers Morgan: Uncensored, aired on TalkTV, as he discussed BBC's most-celebrated show.

Strictly Come Dancing stars Ellie Simmonds and Nikita Kuzmin will take to the dance floor for the second time on Saturday night (October 1) and have shared on spin-off show It Takes Two that it's been a "challenging week". Ellie, 27, is a gold medal-winning Paralympian.

Strictly Come Dancing stars Ellie Simmonds and Nikita Kuzmin have faced a "challenging week" ahead of their second live performance. The gold medallist Paralympian, 27, is the first star to take part in the BBC dancing show with achondroplasia, which is a form of short-limbed dwarfism. Celebs and pros are usually paired together based largely on height, though Ellie and Nikita will have an immediate challenge on their hands due to their difference in stature - Ellie's 4ft to Nikita's 5'9.

Rose Ayling-Ellis, winner of last year's Strictly Come Dancing, has spoken out against an article which draws comparisons between her and Ellie Simmonds, who is competing on the show this year.She said in a series of posts on her Instagram Story: “Please don’t compare me to Ellie. We both have completely different life experiences that it’s just not comparable.”This comes after an article was published which complained that TV shows like Strictly were “pushing indigestible quantities of diversity down viewers’ throats”. READ MORE: Strictly's Craig Revel Horwood defends Matt Goss after Anton Du Beke's catty remark She continued by saying: “Just be open to listen and learn.

Hamza Yassin has slammed claims that Strictly Come Dancing is a "woke box-ticking exercise" because it casts same-sex couples and contestants with disabilities.The Strictly star and Countryfile host weighed in on the woke row on Thursday's episode (September 29) of Steph's Packed Lunch, where he appeared with pro dancer Jowita Przystal.He hit back at the claims, calling them "nonsense" and defending his fellow Strictly star Ellie Simmonds, who has dwarfism.READ MORE:Strictly's Hamza Yassin sparks concern as he suffers nasty knee issue just one week inWhen host Steph McGovern asked him how he felt about the Strictly row, Hamza shook his head in disapproval before launching into a passionate rant stressing the need for representation on the show.Hamza replied: "In the kindest way possible, I think it's nonsense, because inclusivity is the most important, and more importantly representation. Never in a million years did we think that we'd need representation, but we do need it."To see someone of a similar sex, age, ethnicity, height, whatever it is, body size.

Strictly Come Dancing waltzed back onto our scenes on Saturday night, bringing a whole host of celebrities who took to the dancefloor to show off their ballroom moves. But how much do you know about the hit BBC show?Superfans can test their Strictly knowledge by taking our quiz - and find out if you deserve to lift the glitterball trophy for yourself.Season 20 will see the likes of Helen Skelton, Ellie Simmonds and Will Mellor gracing the ballroom floor in the hopes of being crowned the Strictly champion.And what better way to welcome the show back than to remember iconic contestants and tear jerking performances from the past 19 years? From previous winners to movie week madness, prove that you’re the ultimate Strictly Come Dancing fan by taking our quiz!If you can't see the quiz on your browser, you can find it HERE.Once you've cha-cha-cha'd your way through the quiz, quickstep into the comments and let us know how many questions you got right!And don’t forget to sign up to our TV newsletter to get all of the latest gossip on the show straight to your inbox.

Gino D'Acampo has spent months away from This Morning but he's back - and the chaos has come with him. The Italian chef took a break from appearing in the ITV daytime show's kitchen earlier this year as he spent his summer in Sardina.

Jeremy Kyle and former Strictly Come Dancing pro AJ Pritchard were at loggerheads. AJ and his former Love Island brother Curtis Pritchard appeared on Wednesday’s edition of Piers Morgan Uncensored on talkTV alongside host and former TV Critic Kevin O’Sullivan.

Strictly Come Dancing beauty Motsi Mabuse stays covered up off camera “to avoid having everyone stare at my boobs”.She admitted she deliberately dresses down in real life to hide her ample assets. The Strictly Come Dancing judge confessed: “After the show, Diva Motsi likes to slum it: quite the opposite of my usual sophisticated showmanship. “I love wearing my baggy black Minnie Mouse sweatshirt, with Minnie’s big black ears and the red bow between them.

Fifteen celebs took to the dancefloor for the first time at the weekend as they launched the Strictly Come Dancing class of 22. A host of stars kicked off the BBC dance contest to take us through autumn through to December and topping the leaderboard on Saturday night was snake-hipped Will Mellor.

Strictly Come Dancing professional James Jordan, 44, regularly shares his honest opinion about the show's dancing duos on social media.