Graeme Swann will only take ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ advice from winners.
The 39-year-old star will be competing on the news series of the BBC ballroom contest, and despite a number of his fellow athletes appearing in the past, he’s only interested in talking to fellow cricketers Darren Gough and Mark Ramprakash, after they triumphed on the show in 2005 and 2006 respectively.
He told the Daily Mirror newspaper: "There are two cricketers who have won before, but there are two who haven’t. Goughie and Ramps, they won it early on.
"Mark Ramprakash is the best dancer I have ever seen who is not a professional. He was magnificent, so if I seek tips, I’ll find Ramps.
"I won’t find Tuffers and Vaughnie. I still work with them every day, they are great fun but I haven’t asked for advice."
Phil Tufnell and Michael Vaughan both only made it to week nine in 2009 and 2012 respectively.
The Ashes champion – who is teamed with pro dancer Obi Mabuse – does fancy his own chances this year, and insisted he wouldn’t have signed up for the show if it wasn’t for the competitive element, or if he didn’t believe he’d be in with a real shot of winning the Glitterball Trophy.
He added: "My glass is always very half full. If it was just a fun thing and no one got voted off, it wouldn’t have appealed to me. I wouldn’t have entered it if I didn’t know it would be competitive."
Graeme recently admitted he wanted to follow in the footsteps of the winning cricketers on the show.
He said: "I’m hoping to follow in the footsteps of the cricketers who’ve come before me who’ve either won the whole thing or had an absolute ball on the show.
"Keeping it under wraps from my kids has been nearly impossible; they are huge fans of the show and I can’t wait to see their faces when I tell them.
"I don’t have any background in dancing but can do the floss so let’s hope this comes in useful!"
Graeme Swann will only take Strictly advice from winning cricketers
