Strictly’s Jowita Przystal was ‘nervous’ being paired with ‘legend’ Jody Cundy

During Saturday’s launch episode, it was revealed that 44-year-old Paralympian cyclist Cundy would be partnered with professional dancer Przystal , 29, who won Strictly Come Dancing 2022 with wildlife cameraman Hamza Yassin.

Speaking on what it was like to be paired with Cundy, who is a 23-time world champion in swimming and track cycling, Przystal told the PA news agency: “I was super nervous because I’m dancing with a living legend right now.

“23 titles, how is that even possible?… Honestly, I am absolutely honoured and privileged… and absolutely nervous, because I want to make it right and I don’t want to let him down.”

Cundy added that it is “pretty surreal” to be on the show and said: “Being on the Strictly dance floor, just walking in there, the first day of training, I was just like, wow, we’re actually on the Strictly dance floor, then the following day, all the lights were on. It’s like, OK, this is really happening.”

The athlete will be going to the Paralympics next year and said that he has a plan in place to balance Strictly with his training regimen.

He said: “So dancing is literally taking the priority at the moment, but obviously, my British Cycling coaches want me to still ride a bike, because we have World Championships in March or Paralympics next year in August.

“So I still need to know what I’m doing when I come on the bike so we’ve got a plan to try and balance it out.

“We’re going to use the dance and because we know how many hours we’re going to be doing, it’s going to be constant and it’s such great cardio, like I’m going to be on my feet and going to be using that all of the time. So that’s a nice base prep.

“I’m in the early phases of training anyway so all I need to do is base and strength. I spoke to my gym coach, and he wants me to just lift once a week really heavy.”

Strictly Come Dancing will return on Saturday September 23 on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.