Greg Wise says Emma Thompson told him to turn down movie deal to do Strictly Come Dancing

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Greg Wise has revealed that his wife, the actor Emma Thompson, advised him to turn down a lucrative film deal to do Strictly Come Dancing.

The Crown actor, who has been married to Cruella star Thompson since 2003, told The Telegraph in a new interview that he initially rejected the offer of competing on the BBC show.

He said: “Then I told the wife and she said I had to go for it. I had a big job lined up, a three-picture deal that would have been quite nicely paid, thank you very much. I asked if I could do Strictly next year instead and they said no. So here we are.”

Wise said Thompson is “thrilled – more excited than I am” about his appearance on the series, adding: “Em’s looking forward to having a relaxing autumn, with the little beacons every Saturday night of either watching it on the telly with a pile of chums or coming up to Elstree.”

He joked: “With [Strictly], you’ve got to go the whole hog. I’m demanding knickers are thrown at me! All the time… Especially if they’re Em’s.”

Wise will be competing against other celebrities on Strictly, including Robert Webb and Adam Peaty. Read the full line-up here.

In the interview, he also discussed what it was like dating Thompson in the early days of their relationship, after her split from Kenneth Branagh.