Ant Middleton's surprising comments resurface ahead of Dancing With The Stars

He’s best known for being the tough Chief Instructor on SAS Australia, but Ant Middleton will be swapping his military boots for dancing shoes on the upcoming season of Dancing With The Stars. The former UK Special Forces soldier is one of 12 celebrities hitting the dance floor this year alongside sports stars, actors and other popular TV personalities.

While Ant’s appearance in the reality TV competition isn’t too surprising considering he has hosted two shows on Channel Seven in the past year, fans might be shocked to learn that he’s spoken out against the franchise in the past. In fact, the father-of-five publicly turned down the UK version of the series, Strictly Come Dancing, in 2018.

“I’m not that kind of high-end, glossy character,” he said at the season three launch of SAS: Who Dares Win, according to Daily Star. “I’m in my area, a bit rugged round the edges and willing to strip myself down to my bare bones to succeed and fail. All that glitz, glamour, the sequins, I’ll leave for celebrities to do.”

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Ant also admitted in the interview that he’s not a fan of the reality TV genre in general because of how emotional contestants can become.

“I don’t like reality TV. Your Big Brothers and TOWIE [The Only Way Is Essex]… stuff like that,” he said. “I’ve got nothing against the people, good luck to them. But I just don’t want to hear about other people’s problems.

“I’ve got my own problems to deal with, my own life to lead, so why the hell would I want to know about anyone else’s?”

Dancing With The Stars hosts interrogate Ant

A new teaser for Dancing With The Stars features the show’s hosts Sonia Kruger and Chris Brown grilling Ant Middleton in an SAS-style interrogation.

“It’s one of the most dangerous and challenging manoeuvres you will ever face,” Sonia says. “You must be in total lockstep with your partner.”

“Trust is essential,” Chris adds. “And if you don’t land that final move, you’re gone.”

Sonia then throws a red and silver sequinned leotard at Ant - one that he likely never imagined himself wearing back in 2018 - and says: “Now put this on, the show must go on.”

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In addition to Ant Middleton, the full cast for the twenty-first season of Dancing With The Stars includes AFL legends Ben Cousins and Shane Crawford, MasterChef stars Julie Goodwin and Hayden Quinn, Home and Away actor James Stewart, actress Lisa McCune, singer Samantha Jade, Better Homes and Gardens presenter Adam Dovile, Olympian Nova Peris, comedian Nikki Osborne, and fashion designer Nadia Bartel.

The new season is set to premiere 7pm Sunday, July 7 on Channel Seven and 7plus.

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