Tom Dean swerves BBC Strictly probe after Olympic swimmer 'breaks rule' and revealed upcoming stint
Tom Dean remained tight-lipped about his rumoured Strictly stint
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Last week, Tom Dean alluded to the fact that he was set to join the Strictly Come Dancing line-up and broke show rules by "confirming" his stint on the show before the official announcement.
Coming off the back of the Men's 200-metre Individual Medley at the Olympics in Paris on Thursday, August 2, Dean brimmed with excitement and confirmed the rumours.
Following in the footsteps of his teammate Adam Peaty, Dean noted: "Naturally you want to take a break after you've had a full Olympic cycle and the opportunity arose.
"I thought it would be really exciting to try something a bit different. I'll be doing that and straight back into training after it."
He went on to reveal that he would be seeking some advice from Peaty - who danced with Katya Jones on the 2021 series - and added: "It's something to look forward to.
"I've not seen Peaty yet. He did brilliantly on it so I'll be getting a few tips from him, for sure. I don't do too well out of water in gravity sports. I'm throwing myself into it and I know what a hard day's training is like so I'm looking forward to it.
"I guess we'll find out. It's something to look forward to and once I finish this, back home, relax a bit with the family and then we crack on end of August time. It's exciting."
However, the Olympic Gold champion has since remained tight-lipped since the blunder and refused to answer Jordan North, Chris Stark and Sian Welby today as they grilled him.
Stark pressed Dean and revealed that there would be a surprise waiting for him, but when pushed for an answer, he remained silent.
"It's gone a bit quiet!" North quipped before Stark added: "Are we talking about this or not?"
Tom Dean recently bagged his third Gold Olympic medal
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Dean eventually said: "I'm just focused on enjoying the Olympic moment right now and spending a lot of time with my teammates, and I'll see what the summer holds."
Stark replied: "Yeah, exactly. As I say, Tom just says it how it is. And I think what's hilarious is I never think you're meant to blab these things too early. You can get in loads of trouble for it, so I think he's just being super professional by not giving anything away on that."
"Of course. Absolutely. All about the Olympics," Dean concluded before North went on to joke that he would see Dean there, due to rumours swirling that he has also been signed to the show.
He confirmed that he "definitely" wouldn't be there, leaving Stark to tease: "Nor is Tom…"
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Jordan North was also rumoured but shut down the claims during his chat with Tom Dean
Dean laughed and added: "I don't know what you're on about, I don't know what you're on about."
So far, Chris McCausland, JB Gill, Toyah Wilcox, Wynne Evans and Dr Punam Krishan are the only celebrities to have "officially" signed up for the show and revealed by BBC Strictly itself.