Adam Peaty has spoken out after his mum’s less-than-enthusiastic reaction to his Strictly Come Dancing elimination.
Over the weekend, the Olympic gold medallist became the latest star to be sent home by the Strictly judges, prompting an angry tweet from his mother, Caroline.
“Proud [of Adam and Katya], such an amazing partnership and @Mrs_katjones you have taught my baby boy how to dance, thank you,” she wrote, before branding the result a “total fix” and insisting she was “not buying the public vote”.
Asked about his mum’s tweet during an interview on Thursday’s BBC Breakfast, Adam said: “I agree with you, mums are always going to support their own. She wanted to see me every Saturday night – you know how mums get, bless her.
“I love her to bits, she loves me to bits. I think she just wanted me to do a Paso, that’s all she wanted to see me do.”
Naga Munchetty then asked whether he’d “had words with your mother”, to which the swimmer said with a laugh: “Well, yeah… yeah, but you know, again, it is the way it is, isn’t it? I don’t want to censor anyone. She’s got her thoughts and I’ve got mine, and my thought is the most important one to me.
“I had the most incredible time and everyone on that show deserves to be there. And I don’t. And that’s just the way it is”
Elsewhere in the interview, Adam said: “For me, if anyone can lose well it’s me, and everyone in that competition, they are incredible people, and I’m glad I’m out because I don’t deserve to be there.
“Some of the dancers are just… my jaw is dropping and I will always get behind everyone on the show and so, you know what, that’s incredible, that’s different for me because normally I’m on my own and go, you know, ‘You’re not beating me today’, but this is different…”
Following his Strictly exit, Adam has spoken out not just about some of the personal difficulties he experienced during his time in the competition, but also the life lessons he picked up while learning to dance.
Strictly continues on Saturday night at 6.40pm on BBC One, while BBC Breakfast airs every weekday from 6am.