He gamely danced the foxtrot in a “blinged-up” football shirt but David James has drawn the line at wearing his infamous cream Armani suit on Strictly.
In 1996 he took the blame for the Liverpool squad wearing the suits to the FA Cup final.
They were called the Spice Boys and widely mocked after losing 1-0 to Manchester United .
But David, 49, now insists: “The suit wasn’t my doing – John Barnes had been in contact with Armani.
“I thought it was a wonderful suit – I still do. However, because we lost we got more ridicule than we deserved. Would I resurrect it for Strictly? No, that suit will never be worn again.”
The ex-England goalkeeper, who has worn a diamante shirt and a floral suit on the show, joked of a “bling competition” with Michelle Visage, of RuPaul’s Drag Race judge fame.
He laughs: “I was in the lead for a moment.”
He and partner Nadiya Bychkova are putting in 11-hour days for their Paso Doble on the Saturday night BBC1 show, which starts at 6.40pm.
David, who has shed a stone, has been wearing modified trainers.
He said: “I’ve had to put socks on the end so I could get my spins in.”
David scoffs at Danny Baker and Gary Lineker’s claims he only wears pants and socks once.
“I’d have a new pair of gloves for a game. That’s it. I’m big into recycling.”
David James is part of the Debenhams AW19 menswear tribe which introduces the key pieces from the department stores' new season menswear collection modelled by five familiar faces including Wayne Bridge, David James, Jamie Roberts, Curtis Pritchard and Greg Rutherford.
The collection launches in stores and online here , on Monday, 30 September.
