Former Olympic hockey player Sam Quek is one of the 15 celebrities who have signed up to Strictly this year.
Since winning gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics, Sam has remained a regular face in entertainment and has continued to branch out into television. As she makes a new career move, Sam could be the next star to life Strictly’s glitterball trophy.
She said in a statement: “As a former hockey player I’m used to playing as part of a team, but the thought of dancing on the ballroom floor in front of a live audience is quite daunting!
“I’m chuffed to be a part of this legendary show and quickstep into the shoes of a performer. It feels absolutely surreal but I’m ready for every bit of the adventure.”
So is Sam married? How old is she? And how much is she worth? Keep scrolling to find out…
Who Sam Quek is, how old she is, her height and where she’s from
Athlete Sam Quek is a British former field hockey player and television presenter.
Sam was born on October 18, 1988, making her 35 years old. Sam Quek is 5ft 6 ½in, according to Celebrity Heights.
She was born in Liverpool at Mill Road Hospital.
Her mother, Marilyn Quek, is English while her father, Albert Quek, is Singaporean and Chinese. She has a twin brother named Shaun Quek.
Sam earned her degree in Sport & Exercise Science at Leeds Metropolitan University.
Sam Quek’s famous husband
Sam Quek is married to property entrepreneur Tom Mairs. In 2010, he appeared as the titular Secret Millionaire on an episode of the Channel 4 reality show of the same name.
Sam revealed to the MailOnline that the pair met in 2014 at a bar in Liverpool while she was visiting home but living in London.
“I came back up north for our date and had a cider while we played mini golf. I remember he asked if I needed a lift home afterwards, and I told him I was meeting my brother and friends and carrying on my night in town, I had quite a few!” she said.
In August 2018, Sam and Tom tied the knot at Chester Racecourse after Tom proposed to Sam in Tenerife in 2017.
“My dad gave me away, which was very emotional. Walking down the aisle and seeing Tom was my highlight. All of a sudden it was a massive hit of reality,” Sam told OK! magazine.
After participating in I’m A Celebrity, Sam invited her co-stars Carol Vorderman and Scarlett Moffatt to her big day.
“We did karaoke roulette and stuck everybody’s name in a bucket. Carol Vorderman’s was the fourth name out of the bucket so I did a nice duet with her,” she quipped.
What else Sam Quek has been in
Sam Quek rose to fame as a field hockey player. She played as a defender for England and Great Britain.
At the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, she and her team won gold while representing Great Britain. For her services to sport, Sam was appointed an MBE in 2017.
After choosing to retire from hockey, Sam has since ventured into television work. She has presented various sports shows, including American football on the BBC and the rugby union on Channel 5.
In an interview with The Hockey Paper in 2023, Sam revealed how she still gets a thrill from live television.
“On live TV, you get the adrenaline and then go off air and finish and you get that buzz of, actually I’ve done a good job there,” she said, adding “That’s the only time I’ve had that emotion since playing elite sport.”
In 2016, she took part in I’m A Celebrity… where she finished in fourth place. Four years later, Sam signed up for Celebrity MasterChef and came third.
In 2018, Sam published an autobiography titled Sam Quek: Hope and a Hockey Stick.
Her work in television has continued in recent years. In 2021, she became a team captain on Question of Sport and she began hosting Morning Live alongside Gethin Jones the following year. She is also a regular on The One Show.
What Sam Quek is doing now
Sam remains a regular face in broadcasting. For the 2024 Olympics in Paris, Sam interviewed several gold medal winners for Capital FM. She also took part in Soccer Aid this summer.
This year, she will compete in the 22nd series of Strictly Come Dancing.
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Sam Quek is mum to two children
Sam and her husband Tom share two children.
She gave birth to their eldest child, daughter Molly Doris Mairs, in March 2021, after having a C-section.
Sam admitted to OK! that she initially felt like a “failure” after Molly was born due to her struggles with breastfeeding and low supply of milk.
Months before announcing their pregnancy, in mid-2020, Sam and Tom suffered a miscarriage.
“I didn’t want to speak to anyone. I had guilt and shame that it was my fault,” Sam said, adding: “I was looking back at everything I did during pregnancy and replaying every single minute.”
She continued: “I put it all on me and my body. But I never said that to Tom at the time.”
Second baby
In March 2022, Sam and Tom welcomed a son, Isaac Gregory Mairs. She ended up having another C-section after waking up at 2am bleeding. Sam said: “I’d been having recurring nightmares that if this birth went to a C-section, I was going to haemorrhage. I just felt like something was going to go wrong for this one, I don’t know why.”
Opening up about returning to work two months after Zac, as he’s affectionately known, was born, Sam said: “I get a lot of mum guilt. They’re only young for so long. I look back at photos, especially of Zac, and I can’t remember the first two months, and then I went back to work eight weeks after giving birth to him.”
Speaking about how her kids feel about her appearance on Strictly, Sam told the BBC: “I don’t think they realise what Strictly is. However, Molly loves sequins and loves dancing. So I think her little mind’s going to be blown. They don’t really know what’s coming but I think they’ll be excited.”
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How much is Sam Quek worth?
As of 2024, Sam Quek is estimated to be worth over £4 million.
Read more: The ‘richest’ Strictly 2024 contestant – from Nick Knowles and Tasha Ghouri to Shayne Ward
Strictly is on BBC One at 7pm on Saturday September 21.
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