Nick Knowles lost almost two stone before Strictly by making one diet change

Nick Knowles
-Credit: (Image: Ray Burmiston/PA Wire)


Strictly Come Dancing has graced our screens once more, despite a summer beset with controversies involving ex-professionals Giovanni Pernice and Graziano Di Prima, who left the BBC dance show after rifts with their 2023 partners.

Rumours suggest the show is now backed by a robust support team of psychologists and counsellors ready to support the participants' mental health. It's not just the psychological well-being of the competition's stars receiving attention; physical health is also deemed paramount.

Nick Knowles, of DIY SOS fame and paired with dancer Luba Mushtuk, revealed to Daily Mail's Weekend Magazine that there's plenty of medical aid on hand: "Bits of me are knackered but they've already made sure I've got physio support."

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Tackling the subject of how mentally geared up he is for Strictly's rigours, he expressed confidence in the available provisions: "I've spoken to psychologists about my state of wellbeing. I know who I can talk to if I have issues. So, yeah, all I can say is that everything appears to be in place."

Now at 61, Knowles has been fine-tuning his physique for the arduous 14-week ordeal, successfully shedding almost two stone by adhering to a strict diet and exercise strategy.

Nick has opened up about the intense preparation needed after experiencing the initial Strictly training session: "I realised I needed to work harder in the gym," he confessed. He's spent the last six weeks on a strict exercise and diet regime, losing approximately 10 kilos by limiting himself to one meal a day, avoiding carbs, and focusing on proteins and green vegetables, reports Gloucestershire Live.

The globe-trotting presenter once quipped that he'd only consider a liquid diet "once you can juice pork pies and scotch eggs", but in 2017, he spent a month at a wellness retreat in Thailand. For the latest TV & Showbiz news, sign up to our newsletter

He claims to have shed nine kilos thanks to the retreat, after which he took up yoga and adopted what he calls a ''vegan flexitarian" diet. Nick hasn't had much chance for formal dance training yet, apart from learning a few Tango steps while filming a travel series earlier this year: "It's a beautiful dance but it's also very manly. If I'm nervous of anything, it's the bouncy things, the Charleston and stuff."

He may have picked up a move or two from his ex-wife Jessica Rose Moor, a professional dancer, although they split in 2017. Nick's three sisters are also dancers, so he's likely to get plenty of advice over the coming weekends.