Ben Shephard is a man of many talents! The Good Morning Britain star might have found fame on the small screen, but he is no less accomplished on the stage, it seems. This week, Ben sat down with his good friend Kate Thornton for her podcast, White Wine Question Time, during which she spoke about his rather unexpected degree.
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"He is one of those people who can literally turn their hand to anything!" Kate said, as she introduced Ben to her listeners. "I'll give you an example – ballet. Yes, he's got a Masters, a degree, in dance and ballet as well as also having Honours in rugby and football."
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Later on in the podcast, the conversation circled back to Ben and his time at university – where he first met his wife, Annie. "I fell into television, I'd been at university and I'd done a degree in dance and I think in my head I was going to go on to drama school and I was going to get into acting at some point down the line," he shared.
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Kate then asked Ben if it was "Wikipedia folklore" that he had ended up studying dance by mistake and that he had actually intended to do something more drama-based. "That's not folklore, that's true!" Ben confirmed.
Ben studied dance at Birmingham University
He then revealed that while looking at potential university courses, he spotted one that offered 'Drama (Dance), Sport and Recreation Management – Combined Hounours'. "I thought, 'Oh, a bit of sport, a bit of drama, maybe with a little bit of dancing.' I quite like dancing, it sounds like it might be good fun. And it was at Birmingham University, so great university."
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The star then revealed that he applied for the course, but when he received an invite for his interview day, it was requested that he wear a leotard and tights for his dance audition.
The GMB star met his wife Annie while studying for his degree
Not owning those items, Ben said he turned up instead in his rugby shorts and a vest and immediately joined the rest of his class at the moveable bar. "And then the other lecturer came in… and then it became a bit more physical theatre-based, and then I was in my sweet spot. And I loved it!
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"… And afterwards we were sitting down and one of the girls said, 'What's the percentage dance to drama?' and they said it's probably about 80-20. And I said, 'Oh, right. 80 drama 20 dance?'’ And they all went, 'No, no, no’ - 80 per cent dance, 20 per cent drama.'
"And I looked at them all, and went, 'Is this not the drama audition?' and they said, 'No, this is the dance audition. You're here for dancing. You're not here for drama.'"
The couple are now proud parents to two boys
Despite his mistake and the fact he had never danced before, Ben enjoyed the class so much he asked to study on the course – and got accepted! Nevertheless, ahead of his start date, Ben had made the decision that he would drop dance and instead do a single honours in Sport and Recreation Management. "And by Christmas, I'd dropped the sport and it was just full dance!" he revealed.
Ben also spoke about meeting his wife Annie at university in his second year. The couple have been married since 2004 and are parents to two boys, Sam and Jack.
"She was doing philosophy – she's very bright is our Annie. And she spent the whole time considering life and existence!"
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