大象传媒

Gloves are off! The Golden Boy of the boxing ring is a-go and punching for Strictly victory!

Anthony Ogogo is an ambitious professional middleweight boxer, undefeated in his professional career. He won a bronze medal in the 2012 London Olympics and had a post-box in his home town of Lowestoft, Suffolk, painted bronze in his honour. Although he’ll be bronzed with fake tan throughout his Strictly experience, he’s aiming for gold in the Strictly Olympics!

A keen competitor, Anthony is always one for the win, and feels no differently about Strictly, despite having very little experience of dance, other than busting a move or two on an occasional night out (which is a rare thing for an athlete!) Although claiming “Dancing and Anthony Ogogo don’t really go hand-in-hand!” Anthony doesn’t think this’ll stand in the way of Strictly victory, even claiming that his limited dancing experience could be a good thing: “I'm a blank canvas and I’m ready to be painted on!”

Anthony was born to a Nigerian father and an English mother and grew up in Suffolk with his four sisters and his mother, Teresa (who he refers to as his “ultimate hero”). His career goal growing up (before turning his sights to becoming an Olympic champion!) was to become a PE teacher. He now lives in Essex with his fiancée, Casey, who is a secondary school teacher – so one of them became a teacher, at least!

No stranger to success, Anthony was only 12 when he first took up boxing and won a gold medal in the 2004 Junior Olympics. He then won gold at the 2005 IABA Cadet World Championships; silver in the 2010 Commonwealth Games and bronze in the 2012 London Olympics. He then signed his first professional contract with Los Angeles-based promoter, Golden Boy Promotions. But outside of the boxing ring, will Anthony become the Golden Boy of the Ballroom too?

Although new to dance, Anthony’s used to making TV appearances. In 2008, Anthony entered on Channel 4, finishing in fourth place, and in 2013 he was a contestant on , making it to the semi-final (before unfortunately having to withdraw from the competition due to injury). Outside of his boxing and TV appearances, Anthony also works as a semi-professional model. (He’s even done a nude photo shoot for Attitude magazine. Ooh err!)

Anthony’s looking forward to all things Strictly, including the spray-tan and sequins: “It's not your average boxers attire! But I'm open-minded. .. I'm not your stereotypical boxer… I'm going to try and embrace the whole experience!” So here’s to hoping he’s not punching above his weight in the battle of the Ballroom… We’re sure he’ll be a knockout!