Nicola Adams will triumph in her latest fight on Strictly Come Dancing - Christa Ackroyd

Nicola Adams has a few – but the one that befits her most is The History Maker.

Because that’s what this woman from Leeds has done in the past and now, with the announcement that she is to appear on BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing, what she is set to do all over again. No doubt with that infectious smile all over her face. And I can’t wait. She is already a winner in my book.

I have known Nicola a long time. She is one of the most favourite people I have interviewed and that began long before she became world famous as the first boxing double gold Olympian, and at a time when she struggled both for recognition for her sport and the finances to achieve her dreams and, in doing so, elevate women’s boxing to the heights it has now achieved.

Within a year of her victory at London 2012, the figures for women boxing in Britain shot up by almost 80 per cent. That was down to Nicola. She had won more than a medal around her neck. She had challenged everyone inside and outside the ring to prove her worth and that she was equal to anyone. And women’s sport was the better because of it.

Now she is quite rightly challenging our preconceptions all over again. And she and the LGBT community will be the winners. Not before time.

When I first interviewed Nicola, she couldn’t even afford transport to training and often travelled to Sheffield on the bus.

But as the title of her autobiography Believe suggests, Nicola always knew she could do it, if only she was given the chance. But that is why her story is so worth telling again. It reminds us that good things are worth fighting for.

When I first met, her she was a woman fighting not just for a place in the ring but against huge prejudice for her sport.

Almost to a man, because that is what boxing was seen as – the ultimate man’s sport – the establishment was against women boxers.

I heard every excuse in the book from those inside and outside the ring but it all boiled down to the fact women were just not made physically and emotionally to fight. It was too dangerous, too demanding, and too, well yes, masculine. Rubbish.

I supported her all the way. It is a woman’s choice to choose how she lives her life, how she earns her living. But it was a tough fight. After all, it was only in 1996 that the 116-year-old ban on women entering the ring was lifted in Britain. And it had never been an Olympic sport.

Nicola destroyed every argument. She charmed everyone along the way into admitting they were wrong. And she will do so again.

But it is the way she did so which is so worth reminding us of. She only started boxing because her mum, the lovely Dee, wanted to go to an aerobics class and there was a boxing class at the same gym.

She was the only girl. She had suffered from childhood asthma but ignored the doctor’s advice not to run around, saying how can you stop a child running around?

She soon discovered she was extremely talented, 100 per cent focused, hard working and dedicated. And a damn good boxer.

But Nicola’s secret weapon is her charm, her grace and, above all, that incredible smile – a smile that disarmed a thousand opponents of women’s boxing and led to her place in history.

A smile that was always pure gold and a smile we will no doubt see like a cup of warm sunshine in the winter months as she takes on another important role on Strictly.

It is so typical of Nicola that when they asked her to appear she agreed only on the condition she danced with another woman.

She is quietly demanding of her worth. She has never hidden her sexuality, though has faced abuse for it.

She is one of the greatest influencers in the LGBT community and will now have the opportunity to make a real change to attitudes by performing in a same-sex couple on mainstream television. She will win through.

Nicola will be a great dancer. I know it. Of course she is incredibly light on her feet. She also has great rhythm, that’s what she has trained all her life for. But more importantly she will be totally prepared for this, her latest fight.

And let us not kid ourselves – it will be a fight. The first ever same-sex dance by two professional males on the last series sadly provoked the largest number of complaints in the show’s history.

But then Nicola has never been worried about taking on outdated attitudes and tackling them head on. She will beam her way through it and a nation will fall in love with her all over again, of that I have no doubt.

Nicola is one of the finest human beings I have ever met. She remains down to earth and quietly spoken but resolute in whatever task she takes on. She knows full well there will be some who will not accept the BBC’s decision without comment.

But she is tough, resolute and a winner. I, for one, would not bet on that glitter ball not finding its way back to her mum’s crammed trophy cabinet in Leeds.

If it does, she will have once again made it a better place for hundreds of other young girls and women along the way. And caused us to question what the fuss was all about. Another piece of history in the making for Yorkshire’s History Maker.

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Thank you

James Mitchinson