Pride of Britain's Greg Rutherford says he was awful on Strictly but excited for 2020 series
EXCLUSIVE Pride of Britain judge Greg Rutherford may have hung up his dancing shoes for good but he shared his enthusiasm for the sparkling 2020 series
Pride of Britain's judge Greg Rutherford joked he was "awful" on Strictly Come Dancing.
But he's absolutely thrilled about the new 2020 series.
In an exclusive chat with Mirror Online, the modest Olympics champion showed off his good sense of humour when he jested giving up dancing was "probably the best for everyone".
During the 2016 series, the athlete danced his way through the competition with professional Natalie Lowe until they were eliminated in week nine.
Now the British track and field star, 33, may have hung up his dancing shoes for good but he shared his enthusiasm for the sparkling 2020 series.
Greg told Mirror Online: "Oh God! I was awful on that [Strictly Come Dancing]. No, no, not tried any steps since I left."
He joked: "It's probably the best for everybody."
He may not have kept up the dancing but Strictly Come Dancing alumni said he would be tuning in to watching the "exciting" 2020 series.
Although Strictly has had a massive shake-up because of the coronavirus pandemic, the star had every confidence the measures put in place would keep everyone safe.
He added: "Having something like that [Strictly Come Dancing], an awful lot of people tune into that, it's great for a lot of people to have something they can look forward to.
"It'll be very different this year I think. But it'll be exciting to see. They'll make sure everything is put in place to make it safe."
In the same vein, Greg enthused it was important Pride of Britain went ahead this year to champion people who achieve outstanding things.
The judge celebrated the Pride of Britain winners as the "bright sparks in the dark times" of the coronavirus pandemic.
He said: "I think fundamentally we should be championing people who do outstanding things. They are worthy winners.
"We need some bright sparks in the dark times we have at the moment. Seeing what people still manage to do in these times is remarkable. It really is.
"Pride of Britain is an institution now it's been on for so long now. People look forward to it. Overall, it's about championing the best side of humanity."
Emotional Greg admitted the Pride of Britain stories were "tear-jerking" when it come to judging the winners of the award.
In fact, it has proved to be a "nearly impossible" task at times.
He added: "Judging Pride of Britain is really hard work. It's nearly impossible to choose just one or two, hence why things ended up with we'll add to that one or go back to that one.
"It's very, very hard but it's an amazing thing to be asked to do and I'm thrilled I got the opportunity to be involved.
"A lot of it is tear-jerking but it is equally amazing things people do. I think it puts things into perspective as well. Some really incredibly people."
Greg happily was holed up in lockdown with his wife Susie Verrill as well as their two young children Milo, six, and Rex, three.
The biggest challenge they faced in the lockdown was living in a "quite secluded" area.
However, Greg was overwhelmed with the kindness of people he knew and across the nation as a whole.
He said: "Everybody has all come together. What was difficult from our point of view is we are quite secluded - Me, my wife and my two children.
"Probably the kindness we've seen how externally people who have helped everybody out. My grandmother who lives 45 minutes away from us and lives alone, she had her neighbours get her shopping if we couldn't get to her.
"In general, there is a massive human experience. Britain is very good at that, when our backs are against the wall. It's not just one or two people, I think we've seen it across the nation and that's what makes it special."
- Don’t miss the Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards 2020, in partnership with TSB, on Sunday, 9pm, ITV.
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