Jeremy Vine has said he is joining the next series of Strictly Come Dancing because he “desperately” wants to learn to dance.
Vine was announced as the first celebrity signed on to Strictly when it returns for its 13th series in September on The Chris Evans Breakfast Show on BBC Radio 2 on Monday.
Writing on his blog, Vine said his enthusiasm for music is not matched by his dancing ability.
“That’s my problem. Lots of enthusiasm. No expertise. Sorry if you expected otherwise,” wrote Vine. “ ... I truly, madly, deeply want to learn to dance. Desperately! Because I feel that would be a way of getting profoundly into the music, of letting it hold me.”
Vine also said he was joining the show for the sake of his young daughters: “My daughters are now 11 and 8. They are in that beautiful zone, the one that exists just before you realise your dad is a total nob. The brief period after you work out who your parents are and decide you quite like them. I love my girls to bits and I want to show them that life is about taking chances.”
Vine currently presents his own show on BBC Radio 2, as well as Points of View on BBC One and Eggheads on BBC Two. He’s also a fixture on BBC’s election coverage.
