Strictly Footballers Dancing: Seaman, Maradona and other ex-players who've done a Shilton

Published 12:36 08/09/10

Footballers are renowned for their grace, balance and footwork (not you, Emile), and these attributes, in theory, should all be transferable to the dancefloor.

So it's no surprise to see former England, Forest, Derby, Southampton and Stoke stopper Peter Shilton joining Ann Widdecombe and Paul Daniels on the new series of Strictly Come Dancing.

Here are the Shilton predecessors who've swapped football for the foxtrot on reality shows down the years...

Tore Andre Flo is a legend to Chelsea fans. Unfortunately his samba here on Norway's Sla Vi Danse recalls his less successful spell at Sunderland.

Amazingly, in what must have been a bad year, this earned Flo the series' runner-up position. Look out for Tore Andre's sudden, but all too brief, burst of Saturday Night Fever finger pointing - superb.

Shilts can allay any nerves that he has about his new role by simply looking at the fine example set by fellow England stopperDavid Seaman on Dancing on Ice.

To say that Spunky's experience on the show was life changing would be an understatement. After the series he moved in with Dancing on Ice pro-skater Frankie (it's a woman) Poultney.

Peter Schmeichel is another member of the ex-goalkeeper club who had the bright idea to exhibit his grace on the dancefloor in our living rooms every Saturday evening. Well, in his case four evenings as he was voted out of the 2006 series of Strictly on his 43rd birthday. "I have no luck on my birthdays," admitted the red-nosed shouty man. "I once missed World Cup qualification on my birthday. I'm used to it."

In this video, Schmikes comes in at number two for 'most hours trained'. If only he'd squeezed in a few more. Watch out for his dance partner declaring "you're so wet!", then mopping the Great Dane down with a towel.

At the start of this Dancing on Ice clip ITV mainstay Ant and/or Dec tells us how impressed he is with the standard of skating. Then Lee Sharpe comes on. It's nice to see the Titmuss-botherer in a red shirt after all these years, but what would Fergie have made of those sequins?

Ninety seconds of sheer hell for John Barnes here as he squuezes his Mars-enhanced frame into a tight yellow shirt and does the cha-cha-cha on the 2007 series of Strictly.

Digger's targets at the start of the series were "not to get knocked out in the first round and to lose some weight". And, to be fair, he didn't get knocked out in the first round...

Graeme Le Saux has the honour of being the worst performing ex-footballer on the list. Enjoy the video, because it's the only dance he did. Guardian-reading Graeme was voted out of the 2009 Dancing On Ice in the first week, but it's unclear whether it was for his skating or for that dreadful shirt and The Prisoner jacket.

Diego Maradona appeared on the 2005 series of the Italian version of Strictly Come Dancing - the marvellously-titled Ballando con le Stelle - shortly after having gastric band surgery. Alas, doctors couldn't do much with his two left feet.

More entertaining than the swivel-eyed cheat's laboured steps are his eyebrows, which remain in an uncomfortably raised position throughout the entirety of his first two dances. Also notice how Tore Andre Flo's tactic of 'he can't dance, but he can play football', was first employed to mask El Diego's rhythmic flaws...