Nicola Adams on Strictly Come Dancing: Leeds mum speaks on the former boxer joining Strictly

Nicola has already made the headlines as she joins the show’s 18th series as part of the first same sex coupling.

She retired from the ring last year after with an undefeated record and the WBO female flyweight title plus two Olympic gold medals among a haul of many others.

Ahead of the Strictly launch show airing tonight, Dee Otley-Adams who has been a fan of the show since it first started, told the Yorkshire Evening Post that she was as surprised as anyone that Nicola, 37, was going to be taking part.

She said: “I was really quite surprised actually. I was like ‘this is Strictly, she can’t even dance’. She has moves with boxing but dance steps? I am just waiting to watch that like everybody else.”

However, Nicola had said she would only do it if she could be part of a same sex couple - a move that has caused some controversy among fans and dance circles.

The boxer, also named Sports Personality of the Year by the BBC in 2012, is able to explore other ventures, such as Strictly, after retiring last year and now not having to stick to gruelling training regimes like she has since she was 13.

“I said to the agent what will happen but Nicola will take the male role. I am glad it is not Dancing on Ice because she is doing the lifts and if she was on the ice - I can’t imagine.

"But people are wondering what will it be like, how are they going to do it. But, when you go ballroom dancing, or even girls in clubs - in my day it was around handbags - you will see two men or two friends dancing together - that is nothing special but people never talk about it."

When Nicola was growing up in Ebor Gardens at East End Park and Dee was driving her to Barnsley to train at the Hard and Fast boxing club, and constantly making phone calls to try and progress her amateur boxing career - which despite working as an extra on soaps and on a building site - hit the ropes for a while due to lack of funds, Dee never expected she would be watching her own daughter taking part in the show she has watched from the beginning.

Dee added: "All those years and we had to really try and now she is living the dream. I am really proud of her, I am a really proud mum. Even though this is about Nicola, her brother Kurtis started his own business in lockdown, so both of them have really surprised me this year."

Kurtis is a football referee and has also been in the boxing and training industry for many years and will be taking time out to watch his sister take to the floor over the coming weeks.

Dee added: "It is not like I can have friends round on Saturday night so it will be me, her brother and the dog watching. We are definitely looking forward to it because it is something new. I watch it every single year and like everyone else I love to see at the beginning who is okay, who is not, who is going to give us some laughs - and then after a few weeks it gets quite serious."

A message from the Editor:

Leeds has a fantastic story to tell - and the Yorkshire Evening Post has been rooted firmly at the heart of telling the stories of our city since 1890. We believe in ourselves and hope you believe in us too. We need your support to help ensure we can continue to be at the heart of life in Leeds.

Subscribe to our website and enjoy unlimited access to local news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than five articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Click here to subscribe.

For more details on our newspaper subscription offers, click here.

Thank you

Laura Collins