BBC Strictly Come Dancing's Sam Quek's devastating heartbreak with famous husband

Strictly Come Dancing contestant and Olympian Sam Quek went through a tough personal time with husband Tom Mairs which delayed them making a huge announcement to the world

Olympian and Strictly star Sam Quek revealed a tragic event took its toll on her and her husband Tom and they "weren’t able to speak about it properly".

England hockey player Sam Quek, 35, is relishing getting dressed up on Strictly Come Dancing as she just doesn’t have the time for it these days. Sam, who won a gold medal for Great Britain’s Hockey team at the Rio De Janeiro Olympics in 2016, is mum to two small children and also now works as a broadcaster and presenter.

She explained why she’s excited to find that side of herself again on the Mirror's Invite Only podcast, saying: "This is the perfect time for me to do Strictly because of the kids. I love every single minute of having kids but it is tough and you do lose a little bit of yourself." Sam, who has been partnered with Nikita Kuzmin , continued: "Your priorities change because they are your world , and you have to prioritise work and looking after them ahead of getting glammed up and going out with the girls."

The former Question of Sport star is married to entrepreneur Tom Mairs who runs a student property company in Liverpool and appeared on Channel 4 ’s Secret Millionaire. The couple share two children together who were born just over a year apart, Molly, three, and a son Isaac, two. But it was before Sam fell pregnant with Molly that the couple endured a heartbreaking tragedy that had a huge effect on them. In January 2020 and when she was 10 weeks pregnant, Sam miscarried. They fell pregnant again just months later but their fears over something going wrong again prevented them from announcing it to the world until they were six months along.

They decided to do so in an OK! magazine interview and shoot in which they spoke of why they had kept their wonderful news private for so long. "It’s a strange one. Obviously it’s the happiest moment of our lives so far," Sam said. "But what happened in January took a toll on both of us and we weren’t able to speak about it properly.

"This second pregnancy I’ve stopped myself getting too excited, which is quite sad. But it made it easier to keep quiet because in the back of your head, you think, 'What if?'" The couple wanted to share their story in an attempt to raise awareness of miscarriage and to help others in the same situation.

Sam has appeared as a contestant on a couple of reality TV shows before Strictly, such as I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! in 2016 and Celebrity Masterchef in 2020. Her stint on the BBC dance show will be keeping her busy for the foreseeable future and when it comes to adding a third baby to their brood, it doesn’t look like it will be happening in the near future. "We’ve not written it off - but this moment in time we are done," she said. "I’m a genetic twin - can you imagine going from two to four?"

Strictly Come Dancing air on Saturdays on BBC1.