She's an Olympic gold medallist, received an MBE, and now Sam Quek is taking on a new challenge: dancing. The 28-year-old has enlisted boyfriend Tom Mairs as her dance partner, after feeling inspired by her I'm A Celebrity campmates including Strictly star Ola Jordan.
"I got to know Ola and James over in Australia so they gave us the dancing bug, and Wayne Bridge and Frankie knew how to dance," Sam told HELLO!. "It's a good thing for us to get out and get more active rather than socialising on the sofa, so we're going to start taking classes on the corner."
Sam Quek models Littlewoods' latest sportswear offerings
No doubt the couple are excited to spend some quality time together after Sam's jam-packed schedule in 2016, which saw her heading to Rio de Janeiro to compete in the Olympics before travelling to Australia to take on I'm A Celebrity. The toughest part of the jungle for the hockey star? Being away from Tom.
"I really, really missed him. Also the thought of him missing me, whether he needed me or was having a tough time while I was away, that was another thing that I struggled with - that I couldn't actually be there for him." she explained. "It was just really difficult. It was the first time in a long while, or the first time ever, that we had not spoken for that amount of time."
© Photo: RexSam and boyfriend Tom are taking dance lessons this year
However, Sam isn't ruling out more reality shows in the future. Strictly Come Dancing or The Jump are contenders – the latter which she'll be watching closely this year, after turning it down for I'm A Celebrity.
For now, she's focusing on exciting new projects, including modelling Littlewood's latest sportswear offerings with brands from Nike to Puma. It was a match made in heaven: "They're a Liverpool brand and I'm a Liverpool girl!" she said.
Available from Littlewoods.com
