Louis Smith has revealed the secrecy surrounding The Masked Dancer left him in a rather tricky situation when he appeared on the show last year.
The Olympian and former Strictly Come Dancing champion was unmasked as Car Wash after winning the first series of the madcap ITV show.
Louis admitted he found the “whole new level” of keeping things secret about the show “crazy”, having to wear a balaclava, gloves, pull-up socks and a hoodie backstage and “wasn’t allowed to speak outside my dressing room” in order to protect his identity.
However, the show left him having to juggle things in his real life too.
He told HuffPost UK: “Not telling anyone was a little bit awkward, because at the time I was renovating a property and I had builders saying, ‘We need to be here, we need to do this, book you in for this slot, where are you going to be?’ I was like, ‘I can’t tell you. I’m just going to be out. I might be back in a week, I might not.’ They were like, ‘Huh? What do you mean you might be back in a week?’
“So it was a bit tricky juggling lots of people, but I can’t imagine what it would be like if you were more famous or if you were doing EastEnders or something and you have all these co-workers.
“It was a little bit tricky but it was good fun.”
Having won both Strictly in 2012 and The Masked Dancer in 2021, Louis is only keen to appear on more reality shows if it is a “challenge”.
“I couldn’t just sit in the Big Brother house or I’m A Celebrity – I like learning a skill. It’s why I did The Jump,” the pommel horse medallist said.
“When I was learning Olympic sports, that for me was… really testing myself and challenging myself. I brought out the inner child gymnast in me, it’s why I did so well – a need to want to try and be the best I can be.”
Louis is currently working with Tu to show why its school uniform gets gold for durability at the The Ultimate Playground Games.
The Olympian led a one-off PE lesson like where children took on various challenges inspired by the games, all while kitted out in Tu school wear.
It was a great day, we had a fantastic time and the kids really enjoyed themselves,” he said. “We got them doing knee slides and long jumps, cartwheels, rolling around, sprinting, and I’m pleased to say it stood up to the test.
“Tu Clothing have teamed up with Family Action charity and donated £10,000 of vouchers and school clothing to vulnerable families in the UK, which I think is going to relieve some of the stress for a lot of families.”
The Savvy School Shop is available at Tu.co.uk, Argos.co.uk and in selected Sainsbury’s stores.