Greg Wise has opened up about his wife Emma Thompson's initial reaction to him joining Strictly Come Dancing – and it is brilliant.
The actor, who wed Emma in 2003 after meeting on the period drama film Sense and Sensibility, told HELLO! and other publications during a Strictly Q&A recently that he had initially said no to BBC bosses, but it was Emma who told him otherwise.
"I told my dear lady wife when they asked that I'd said no, and she said 'You're mad! You've got to do it!'" he explained, adding: "She's been filming solidly since January, she's made two films back-to-back.
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"We'd planned a really nice autumn, we were actually going to have our first holiday in seven years together, and over the space of a five minute conversation we had, the entire autumn was kicked into the long grass and here I am."
He continued: "And she's thrilled because she'll be able to relax and support me and watch every Saturday night, or as many Saturday night's as I survive."
Greg, who has many roles in his successful acting career including as Lord Louis Mountbatten in the first two seasons of Netflix's The Crown, also opened up about another heartwarming reason for joining the ballroom competition – his late sister.
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Greg and Emma have been married since 2003
"I was asked and I thought 'No absolutely not, I can't do it', then I thought about it and almost exactly five years to the day that my sister died will be the first day that we do our routines," he said. "And my sis was a real disco diva, she was the dancer in the family.
"She left this world in a glitterball coffin and as this show is all glittery and disco-y and diva-y, I thought I had to do it for her." Greg's sister, Clare sadly died in 2016 after battling breast cancer for three years.
Greg added: "And also, I'm 30 years in as a professional and I've been round the block a few times, and have never even dreamt of trying to do something like this so it's all about challenges and living slightly out of your comfort zone. I'm the oldest one here, I'm the grandad so I'm going to slightly emulate Mr [Bill] Bailey from last year."
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