Strictly star Sam Quek admits 'nightmare' habit that husband begs her to stop

Strictly Come Dancing contestant Sam Quek is mum to two young children with a busy career in broadcasting. The Olympian is married to property mogul Thomas Mairs, who once appeared on Secret Millionaire

Sam Quek is riding high thanks to a superlative Samba on Strictly Come Dancing.

The 35-year-old Olympian bagged 28 points for her dance to Shakira's iconic song Hips Don't Lie with her pro partner Nikita Kuzmin. The dancing pair will next take on a Quickstep with Sam's husband Thomas Mairs, a millionaire property mogul, cheering them on every step of the way.

The couple have been married for six years with two young children together, Molly and Isaac. Sam calls Thomas her "best mate and number one supporter" and admits he has to tolerate a "nightmare" habit of hers.

Opening up to Heatworld, the former athlete said: "My husband is fantastic but I am a nightmare. I'm a bit of a busybody and I like to be up even when I'm sick. My husband's like: 'Have a lie-in this morning!'"

Sam and Thomas went to the same school but didn't cross paths as they weren't in the same year. They later met in a Liverpool bar and got engaged in the summer of 2017, with a wedding at Chester Racecourse in 2018.

The star, who was a key part of the England hockey squad that won gold at the Rio Olympics in 2016, turned to broadcasting when she retired. And it transpired she was just as talented at her new career, becoming the first female captain on the BBC's A Question Of Sport.

Sam went on to regularly present BBC's Morning Live show but she has spoken of her "mum guilt" at combining her career with becoming a parent.

"I get a lot of mum guilt," she told Heatworld. "They're only young for so long and I can't remember the first two months of Zac's life because I went back to work eight weeks after giving birth to him. I look at their photos and think: 'I can't believe I missed that'."

Strictly isn't Sam's first reality TV show challenge - in 2016 she headed into ITV's I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! jungle, making it to the final four. She went one better on Celebrity Masterchef, finishing third.

Can Sam lift the Glitterball Trophy on Strictly? It's long been an ambition of hers.

"I always said to them [my friends] it would be the only other kind of proper reality show - a talent show - that I'd want to get really stuck into," the star told the Express. "Because of the opportunity to learn how to properly dance from some of the world's best dancers and then also the opportunity to touch base a little bit of my younger days.