BBC Strictly star Sam Quek shut down presenter in painfully awkward TV moment

Former Olympian and TV host turned Strictly Come Dancing contestant Sam Quek looked painfully awkward in a 2021 interview with Dan Walker and Mark English over Zoom

Sam Quek's first Strictly performance went better than her previous TV stint.

The former hockey player and TV host hit the dance floor with pro partner Nikita Kuzmin last week, scoring a respectable 23 points from the judges. The duo performed a foxtrot to the hit Where Did Our Love Go by Diana Ross, and managed to conceal a small 'tumble' during the routine.

They ranked fourth on the leaderboard, tied with Chris McCausland, Jamie Borthwick, and Tom Dean. "I've never had an experience like it," Sam told Fleur East, host of Strictly spin-off show It Takes Two. "The nerves in the run-up, like I think I was physically shaking during the dance, to then finish it came out unscathed. Although, I took a little bit of a tumble into the stairs."

Back in 2021, when covering the Olympic Tokyo Games along with BBC's Dan Walker - Sam, 35, quickly found herself in a painfully awkward situation. The duo were interviewing Team GB's Mark English on Zoom when Sam's behaviour during the previous olympics in Brazil, where she competed for Team GB, was brought up.

"Was Sam well behaved in the village?" Dan asked, to which Sam quickly replied: "Always! Don't ask him about after!" But then, Mark quipped: "As you know, social distancing and physical distancing is the order of the day so..."

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Red faced, Sam quickly quelled the innuendo, adding: "Woah woah woah, I was in a very happy relationship then, Mark," to which Dan joked: "Well this has got spectacularly awkward, Mark!". Hilariously, Sam then turned to face the camera and declared: "Just to assure everybody at home and my dear now-husband, us hockey girls are very well behaved because we compete throughout the whole tournament."

Sam tied the knot with her husband Tom Mairs back in 2018 at Chester Racecourse and have been happily married for six years now. They had both attended the same school but didn't cross paths until they were adults due to being in different year groups. Sam, who you recognise from the TV, said he was 'dead excited' for his wife to take to the dance floor.

The entrepreneur is currently a student property developer and the owner of the largest beef gristle mill in Europe, according to Hello Magazine. He is the son of a multi-millionaire and was the youngest ever participant to appear on The Secret Millionaire back in 2010.

Strictly Come Dancing airs every Saturday on BBC One.

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