Strictly's Nick Knowles makes promise to partner ahead of BBC show's curse

Sun Sep 08 04:31:00 IST 2024

Strictly Come Dancing star Nick Knowles says his fiancée has nothing to fear from the show’s dreaded “curse” – because he is far too tired to misbehave.

The 61-year-old – who has two divorces and several serious relationships behind him – insists that he simply doesn’t have the stamina for anything but dancing right now.

Asked about the so-called Strictly curse ahead of the show’s launch next Saturday, the DIY SOS host says: “It’s not an issue. I barely have the energy to walk out to the car afterwards.

“Honestly, we did a day’s training yesterday and I literally crawled out to the car and sat with my feet in a bath of cold water for an hour when I got home.”

Nick, who has four children, is about to get hitched for the third time, to Katie Dadzie, 34, who he has been dating for two years. Businesswoman Katie, who sells sex toys and lingerie, is 27 years Nick’s junior. He proposed on a trip to America last July with a Haribo ring.

Nick was married to his first wife Gillian for four years from 1996. They share daughter Tuesday and son Charlie. Nick then dated fellow TV presenter Suzi Perry for three years and went on to have son TJ with the dancer Paula Beckett. In 2012, he wed second wife Jessica Rose Moor. Together, they have son Eddie. When they split in 2016, he dated Emmerdale’s Gemma Oaten.

Nick and Katie – who has two daughters from a previous relationship – met through their nine-year-olds, who did classes together. The star also reveals he has been fighting to get back in shape after the pandemic, when he caught Covid three times and piled on 4st.

Nick says: “I was really ill for a long time. I put a lot of weight on with that and I couldn’t go out training – I was too knackered. “But I’ve been feeling a lot better over the last year, and then taking this on, I went for it training-wise and so that’s helped a lot.”

Nick went on a serious health kick before the dance training started and has already shed nearly 2st. He says: “I’ve lost 12 kilos. And my mind, which is about 2lb! The main thing was to be fit enough to be able to do it, because it is unbelievably hard work.”

Yet Nick is still finding learning the steps for the first group routine hard going, admitting: “I thought trying to ride a horse in Mongolia while firing a bow and arrow was going to be the most difficult thing I did in my lifetime. It turns out it wasn’t. This is a lot more difficult than almost anything I’ve ever tried.”

Things are starting to look up though, as he gets into the swing of dancing. Nick says: “The first day of training, I didn’t have a good time because I was concentrating on trying to do it right. I had to have a word with myself overnight and come back with a better attitude and start to enjoy myself a bit more.”

So will he be using Strictly to perfect his moves ready for his and Katie’s first dance when they wed? “The first thing I’ve got to do is try not to look like the Honey Monster on the dance floor,” he says.

“So all my brain power at the moment is focused on that, because you don’t really have time to think of anything outside of this. It’s all-encompassing for me – and the family – because you do such long hours. It won’t even be on my radar until I get out the other side.”

Nick is best known for fixing up homes on DIY SOS – a job he has done for 25 years – but he has also hosted BBC One game shows Who Dares Wins and Secret Fortune and braved the jungle with Ant and Dec in 2018. Eighteen months ago, he also became a travel presenter on Channel 5. But of Strictly, he says: “This is a whole new adventure.” Nick is glad he’s not the only one who is new to dancing and says he gets on well with the other celebs.

“We all chat, and that’s probably the loveliest thing about this – the sense of support, the camaraderie,” he admits. And he reckons he might bring elements of DIY SOS to the show, adding: “What makes you think I’m not wearing a hard hat and a high-vis jacket?”

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