Olympic champion Sam Quek says the hardest thing about doing Strictly is letting her husband do the dirty laundry.
The 2016 hockey gold medalist, 36, says she is a control freak when it comes to washing the family household’s clothes. But she revealed how millionaire property tycoon, Tom Mairs, is now allowed to empty the washing basket after passing the all important ‘smell test’.
Perfectionist Sam, who has two children Molly, four, Isaac, two, with Tom said: “My husband is picking up a lot of the slack, if not all of it. “We are very hands-on parents and call ourselves Team TAM, Tom and Sam.
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“I’m a bit of a control freak when it comes to the washing though. I have to do it to make sure the Whites are whites and I like to hang them out.
“I got home the other day and Tom said he’d done the washing, whether I liked it or not. He did amazing. It’s all about the smell isn’t it? You can’t leave it in the washing machine too long or you have to do it again, but he’s smashing it.
“They were even folded and piled up. He apologised for not putting them away and I said he’s done more than enough.”
Sam married Tom in 2018, two-years after retiring from professional sport. She added: “I also like going to the supermarket on my own to do the shopping, that’s my solace.
“It’s things like that I’ve handed over but he’s been brilliant. He has also got a full time job, he’s trying to run a business so I can’t expect him to cook as well.
“We enjoy doing that together or take it in turns.”
The competitive hockey champ is desperate to win this year’s dance competition with Nikita Kuzmin, 26. But Sam admitted she would need a miracle to lift the Glitterball Trophy.
She said: “I am competitive. I want to win. I think you should try and win every competition you play, regardless of what it is. But I am also a realist. I am not going to win.
“I feel like I would need to rig the competition to get to the final. Hockey was hard but it was something I was doing since I was 10. It was in my blood already.
“I’m definitely finding Strictly harder.”
Asked what she had learned most about herself from the Strictly experience, Sam added: “That I’m not the same person who won gold eight-years ago. “You carry the label of being an Olympic gold medallist and people think you must be super fit for this.
“I was an athlete but now I am a mum. I’ve realised I can still tap into the old Olympian Sam and apply those skills to Strictly.
“But it’s also ok to be vulnerable and own my body now and what it is now capable of. I always try to be the best at everything and sometimes it doesn’t come off and I am seeing that live on a Saturday night so it’s how I deal with it.
“I am not the best dancer so it’s been vulnerable enough to accept that.”
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