Leeds boxing champion Nicola Adams confirmed for Strictly Come Dancing and will dance in same-sex couple

Adams, who won gold at both London 2012 and Rio 2016, is dating Ella Baig and has been praised as an LGBT role model.

The news was announced on BBC Breakfast.

Adams said: "I have told probably three people, so not that many people knew I was going to be in this. I was keeping it a secret.

"It's really important. It's a big step for the show and it's nice to see that we are able to move on. I just can't wait to get some dancing done."

Asked whether she approached the show about being part of a same-sex pairing, she said: "I asked the show about it. They wanted to know if I wanted to be on the show but I said 'Yeah, I will do it but I want to dance with another female dance partner.'

"I know it's going to be tough, I know the training is going to be hard and I can't dance at all so this is going to be a totally new challenge for me."

Adams has made a remarkable journey from the streets of Burmantofts to Olympic gold boxing champion and remains a sporting hero and inspiration to millions of women and girls around the world.

She is the Leeds lass whose glorious career accidentally started when she found herself in a Leeds boxing gym at the age of 12, when her mum went to aerobics and couldn’t get a babysitter, so took her along.

As a young girl she told her mum she would win a gold medal in the Olympics - when boxing wasn’t even an Olympic sport.

She went on to become the first woman to win gold at the London Olympics 2012 and four years later in Rio, she won gold again.

The 37-year-old retired from the ring late last year, announcing the news in an exclusive open letter to the readers of the Yorkshire Evening Post.

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Laura Collins