The Strictly Come Dancing contestant and Gladiators star has opened up about how the health issue could impact his performances on the popular BBC One show alongside Karen Hauer
Strictly Come Dancing star Harry Aikines-Aryeetey has revealed his concerns that a health condition he has suffered from for his entire life would “work against” him on the BBC show.
After finding fame while competing for Great Britain in the Commonwealth games, in more recent years, Harry has made his name competing in Gladiators under the name Nitro.
However, during an appearance on the Parenting Hell podcast, he told hosts Rob Beckett and Josh Widdicombe how he felt fearful that a medical issue could affect his chances in this year’s Strictly Come Dancing.
Looking back over his time on Strictly, including a stint on 2024’s Christmas Special, Josh, who was also part of the festive episode, observed how Harry would excel at the routines that require greater physical strength, but joked he might be “too stiff for the romantic numbers” due to his muscular physique.
In response, the 37-year-old said: “These are things I’m scared of. These muscles are actually going to work against me.”
He then opened up about a health condition that he has suffered with since birth: “I’ve actually got a deficiency of myostatin. That’s one of the reasons why I build muscle a lot. So that is just a genetic makeup.”
Myostatin deficiency is when the body struggles to produce myostatin protein, which in turn results in heavily increased muscle mass and small amounts of fat around the body. Therefore, it is common for people who have low to no myostatin in their body to have larger than normal muscles.
The condition is said to be extremely rare, with some estimates suggesting that as few as one in four million people have been diagnosed with it.
However, despite his medical condition, Harry has been impressing fans with his performances in the competition, with the athlete and his dance partner Karen Hauer performing an American Smooth last night.
Unfortunately, the judges were left divided over their routine, which saw the couple score just 30 points, meaning that they finished second from bottom on the leaderboard.
Away from the competition, Harry boasts an extremely impressive sporting career, having competed for team GB at the Olympics, as well as winning several European and Commonwealth relay gold medals.
Source: Mirror
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