Andy Murray tells mother she will be terrible on Strictly Come Dancing
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Version 0 of 1. Judy Murray, who will be among the celebrities donning the sequins and fake tan on the new series of BBC1's Strictly Come Dancing, has revealed that her tennis champion son Andy warned her she would be a disaster. Murray told his mother she would be "absolutely terrible" in the show, which will also feature singer Pixie Lott, Masterchef judge Gregg Wallace and Radio 1 DJ Scott Mills. She said she got a mixed reception from Andy and her other son, doubles specialist Jamie, when she told them she was considering the programme. But the tennis coach and captain of the British Federation Cup team expects Andy to go to the studio to support her as "payback" for the years she has spent watching him from the stands. Murray, who turns 55 on Monday, said: "When I told the boys that I might do it – I didn't know if I would do it because you have to give about three and a half months of your life away to it and because I travel a lot and with my job – Jamie said: 'Oh Mum, you'll love that, you love that show' and Andy said: 'Oh my god, you'll be absolutely terrible.'" Asked if Andy would be attending the live shows, Murray said: "I think he will if he's at home. I can see him taking a seat on the back row and slowly sliding underneath the chairs – but I've said it's payback time." Murray, an increasingly influential figure in British tennis, has long been a fan of Strictly, which returns for its 12th series on Sunday, and said she would draw on her experience of training others as she attempts to master its ballroom and latin dance moves. "I know how to train people as a coach so I know the whole 'repetition being the mother of skill' and all the rest of it," she said. "So when I was spectacularly bad the first two days, I went off to HMV on Saturday morning and bought the CD … got the high heels out and I was dancing to my heart's content in my kitchen and I feel a whole lot better." She added: "If I'm terrible, I'll just laugh – because you have to." Other contestants include EastEnders actor Jake Wood, the Saturdays singer Frankie Bridge, Bargain Hunt presenter Tim Wonnacott and actor Jennifer Gibney from BBC1's Mrs Brown's Boys who is also married to its star, Brendan O'Carroll. Strictly Come Dancing will return on Sunday in the 8pm slot on BBC1, at the same time as ITV's Simon Cowell talent show, the X Factor. Cowell criticised the scheduling, saying the BBC was out to damage his show and saying viewers would be the loser. The BBC1 show has won the ratings battle for the last two years and ITV will be hoping for a resurgence in the X Factor's fortunes with the return of Cowell as a judge for the first time since 2010, along with another former judge, Cheryl Fernandez-Versini (formerly Cole). But after a promising start for its launch show last Saturday, which drew 9.5 million viewers, the X Factor slipped to 8.2 million the following night – 1.7 million fewer than the equivalent edition last year. Strictly Come Dancing also has a new line-up, with Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman taking co-hosting duties after Sir Bruce Forsyth stepped down earlier this year. |