INVICTUS Games medalist JJ Chalmers has revealed he loved fake tanning during his stint on Strictly Come Dancing and saw the judges as Sergeant Majors.
The 35-year-old from Edinburgh made it to the quarter finals of the show in 2020 with dance partner Amy Dowden and still speaks fondly about his time on the show.
The former Royal Marine won medals in the 2014 Invictus Games after suffering severe injuries in an IED blast three years earlier in Afghanistan.
He has now revealed how he would ‘brace up’ when seeing Craig Revel-Horwood, Shirley Ballas, Motsi Mabuse and Bruno Tonioli walking down the corridors.
The Scots paralympian, who currently lives in Dunfermline, Fife, also regarded spray tanning as a perk to the show.
In an interview for May’s issue of Scottish Field magazine, Chalmers admitted that he found similarities between Strictly and the Armed Forces.
He said: “On Strictly Come Dancing the judges felt like Sergeant Majors to me, I couldn’t help but brace up when they walked down the corridors, they are lovely human beings.
“I loved the fake tan. You’ve got to leave it on overnight so that it soaks in and gives you that even tan.
“You go for ‘shade one’ for ballroom and ‘shade two’ for Latin.”
The fleet-footed Strictly star also revealed that Sir Chris Hoy would be his ideal dinner guest.
He said: “I’d put Chris Hoy at my dream dinner table.
“I’d also have him cook the dinner because he is great on a BBQ.“
“Princess Margaret would be a bit of a hoot, wouldn’t she? She’d liven up the party.
“I would love to have Jim Lovell, the lead pilot from Apollo 13 or Tom Hanks playing him in the movie remake in a full space suit.
“Touching on his past achievements, Chalmers added: “Competing at The Invictus Games was amazing. We were made to feel like rock stars for a week.
“It felt amazing to be exercising again, to be part of a team, to get out of bed every morning and to have a reason to push yourself.
“These massive sporting competitions are a showcase about what is great about humanity, and to be at the heart of that was pretty cool.
“I’ve been really lucky to crack along with my bucket list.
“The big one in 2020 was to present the Olympics along with the Paralympics. To become the first disabled presenter to present the Olympics was a massive privilege.
“I think it is a huge step in the right direction of where society should be in terms of representation”.
Chalmers had an 11 year military career reaching the rank of Lance Corporal in the Royal Marines.
He required over 30 operations following the IED explosion.
Two fingers were blown off and the dad-of-two seriously damaged his elbow.
