I struggled being so big and tall when I was a kid..  Strictly made me believe that strong is sexy, says Montell Douglas

SHE has been showered with praise aft proudly putting her sensational Gladiators assemblage done its paces connected Strictly.

But arsenic a child, Montell Douglas often felt embarrassed by the mode she looked.

Standing astatine 5ft 9in by the clip she was 12 years old, determination was not overmuch she could bash to marque herself invisible.

But her diversion stature is 1 of the concealed weapons that, on with creation spouse Johannes Radebe, has seen her dazzle connected the BBC One creation contest.

Montell, 38, said: “Strictly gives maine the accidental to deterioration these beauteous gowns and dresses and find the elegance, portion believing and embracing that beardown is inactive sexy.

“That is what I person to punctual myself truthful often. And being with Johannes, honestly, helium is simply a reminder each time that beardown is sexy.”

Along with amusement favourite Jojo, who is 6ft tall, Montell is happily towering implicit astir each different contestant — and not conscionable successful height.

The duo person besides delivered consistently sensational performances which person seen them placed among the highest scoring couples.

But it was a precise antithetic communicative erstwhile the future Gladiator — amended known connected the amusement arsenic Fire — was increasing up successful Bromley, South East London.

Montell said: “When you’re a small miss and you privation to acceptable successful and you bash thing but basal out, you slump your shoulders.

“I’ve ever had atrocious posture due to the fact that you’re conscionable large and you can’t hide.

“I didn’t truly similar the limelight.

“I didn’t similar radical to spot maine each the time.

“And I truly struggled with my assemblage shape, however I was moving my limbs, they were truly agelong and gangly.

“The assurance conscionable wasn’t there.”

‘More than conscionable dancing’

Things started to changed erstwhile a PE teacher astatine her schoolhouse successful Bromley spotted her endowment for athletics, particularly sprinting.

Montell, a erstwhile Olympic runner, says discovering athletics shaped the mode she started to deliberation astir her body.

She added: “I deliberation going done athletics has empowered maine due to the fact that my physicality, my body, has ne'er been due to the fact that of however I privation it to look.

“It’s ever been for performance.

“I’ve ne'er looked and gone, ‘I privation this brainsick backmost that I’ve got close now, each this muscle.

“I privation my shoulders to beryllium this way’.

“I’ve ne'er felt similar that.

“I’ve done it due to the fact that that’s what made maine tally accelerated and that was the priority.”

Montell’s assemblage has surely propelled her to the pinnacle of sport.

She represented Team GB astatine the summer Olympics successful 2008, wherever she competed successful the 100 metres and arsenic portion of the 4x100 metres relay team, which reached the final.

Not contented with 1 changeable astatine the Games, successful 2016 she shifted her attraction to the bobsleigh and, successful 2022, took portion successful the winter Olympics.

She is the archetypal pistillate to vie astatine some the summertime and winter Olympics for Team GB.

So it is nary wonderment that, erstwhile the BBC decided to reboot Gladiators past year, Montell was snapped up by producers and became her change ego, Fire.

Now she is mounting the ballroom ablaze, peculiarly arsenic she and Johannes are 1 of the fewer all-black partnerships connected the show.

That is thing they celebrated during their couple’s prime creation past month, which was a carnival- inspired regular to Skeleton Move by Master KG.

And it earned the duo 3 cleanable tens from the judges and besides praise from viewers.

Representation is important to the brace arsenic they privation to animate young viewers to travel their dreams.

Breaking down successful tears arsenic she talked astir what their concern stands for, Montell said: “It’s truthful powerful, honestly.

“It’s a batch due to the fact that it means a batch for some of us.

“Obviously, it was a existent joyousness to person Jojo arsenic my spouse due to the fact that it’s much than conscionable dancing.

“It’s much than conscionable steps.

“It is much than conscionable the euphony and the costumes.

“It’s real. And that means a lot.”

Johannes added: “It’s the eventual truth.

“My niece backmost location successful South Africa, she is blown away. She truly is.

“I’m her uncle.

“I’ve been doing this, and she’s watched me, for years.

“But she’s ne'er seen this picture.

“She said, ‘This year, Strictly is my favourite happening due to the fact that of Montell’.

“And I conscionable thought to myself, ‘That’s wherefore we bash what we do’.

“And truthful I’m beside myself, honestly.”

It’s not conscionable Johannes’ niece who has been moved by their partnership.

Montell said they person been stopped successful the thoroughfare by radical thanking them for what they are showing connected a primetime BBC show.

She added: “Going to luncheon yesterday, this woman came up to america successful the thoroughfare and stopped america to say, ‘Seeing you guys unneurotic is conscionable everything to america and for our communities, it’s a large thing’, and it is.

“And we don’t speech astir it enough, but we recognize and we bash not instrumentality it for granted.

“We privation radical to cognize that we worth and admit the honour it is and the privilege to correspond that and what it means.

“But besides cognize heavy down successful our hearts that we privation to correspond that successful the champion mode we perchance can.

“We beryllium it to everyone to beryllium capable to consciousness the aforesaid mode that we feel. And that’s what we effort to do.”

It is wide that, for Montell, Strictly is much than conscionable a spot of amusive oregon a boost for her celebrity status.

So ending up successful the dance-off past play against chap Olympian, hockey subordinate Sam Quek and her spouse Nikita Kuzmin, was a hammer blow.

Montell had swept the dancefloor to Whitney Houston’s I Will Always Love You for the show’s archetypal icons themed week and, thankfully, the judges unanimously saved her.

She said: “We were perfectly gutted to beryllium successful the dance-off.

“It’s ne'er casual for anyone.

“You enactment truthful hard to enactment successful a bully show and, successful the moment, it was truly bittersweet reasoning that could beryllium the past clip that we get to creation together.

"The combat and emotion we person for this travel kept america successful different week and I americium truthful arrogant of however acold we’ve travel successful the ballroom.

“We get to spell again.”

Tonight’s amusement volition spot Montell and Johannes instrumentality connected the paso doble to Lola’s Theme by The Shapeshifters.

‘In insane shape’

It is simply a regular she has been loving this week, explaining: “It’s nary concealed I emotion Latin.

“I conscionable consciousness similar it’s successful my bones.”

And she has been putting her each into training, which, she says, has led to her physique changing implicit the past fewer months.

Montell says “everything is popping” due to the fact that she has mislaid truthful overmuch weight.

She added: “I’m telling you, coming from a precise circumstantial power background, similar lifting weights, being strong, it’s precise antithetic to the strength of creation training.

“The jock successful maine loves it due to the fact that I emotion being capable to usage my assemblage successful a caller way, but thin into my aged skills if I can.

“But, physically, I look wholly different.

“Even my Gladiator household person been like, ‘You look successful insane shape’. Because my assemblage is conscionable tight.

“The value is stripping away.

“Everything is popping, I look precise different.

“Honestly, I haven’t looked this thin successful 8 years, earlier I did the bobsleigh.

“It’s each gone. I’m loving it!”

For azygous Montell, determination mightiness beryllium an added bonus to looking sexy connected the dancefloor — and that is each the antheral attention.

She reveals that men person been sliding into her DMs trying to get noticed by her.

But atrocious news, lads.

She lone has clip for 1 antheral successful her life.

Montell said with a laugh: “They’re each successful the petition file.

“I don’t person time.

“I don’t adjacent person clip to enactment a communicative up of america grooming due to the fact that we’re excessively engaged training.

“Look, I’ve got 1 antheral successful my beingness close present and that’s Jojo.

“He’s each the antheral I need, truthful I’m going to instrumentality with him for now.”

• Strictly Come Dancing is connected BBC One contiguous astatine 6.35pm.