Racer Billy Monger's emotional reason for signing up for BBC Strictly Christmas special

Double amputee Billy Monger says he signed up for Strictly Come Dancing’s Christmas special as a thank-you to the surgeon who performed his amputations after his horror smash in 2017.

The racing driver, 25, said he had been inspired to say yes to dancing on his prosthetic limbs because of Tom Rowlands, and his wife Courtney, who are fans of the show and have become close friends. "Tom is one of many surgeons who looked after me when I needed it most,” Billy explained. "After my accident, we stayed in touch and they are part of my close network of people.

"His wife, Courtney, who will be coming to the show, is such a big Strictly fan. I’ve just done Iron Man in Hawaii and she travelled out to watch me. When I said I might be doing Strictly, she said, ‘You have to do it. I’ve come to Hawaii, so you need to do it’. She’s the person who made me think, ‘I’ve got to do this’.”

Billy was a rising star in the world of motor racing until the accident which nearly killed him. In April 2017 Billy, then just 17, was involved in a high-speed crash at Donington Park, Derby during the Formula 4 British Championship. After being cut from the wreckage, he was airlifted to hospital in Nottingham where doctors battled to save his life.

Billy will take part in the Christmas special of Strictly Come Dancing (Image:WireImage)

He'll dance with Nadiya Bychkova (Image:BBC/Guy Levy)

At the time Steven Hunter, head of Billy’s team JHR Developments, said witnessing the young driver and his injuries had been a "heart-wrenching”experience. But, after having surgery to remove his left leg above the knee and his right leg below the knee, Billy was determined to recover and get on with his life. Just seven months later, he was back racing, driving a modified car to cater for his disabilities. He has since explained: "I lost my legs but not my daredevil spirit.”

Since then he has become the first disabled driver to compete against able-bodied rivals in Formula 3, having appealed to the governing body to change the rules to allow him in. In 2019 he launched his ongoing career as a racing broadcaster, giving analysis for Channel 4 ’s Formula 1 coverage and he has also become a regular presenter for the Paralympics.

In 2021 he raised £3million for Comic Relief by walking, kayaking and cycling 140 miles and two years later he and his younger sister Bonny were contestants on the first celebrity version of Race Across the World. Billy considers Bonny to be one of the heroes of his personal tragedy, after she went to the track in the immediate aftermath of the crash and grabbed his hand and told him he was going to be all right. "She gave me the will to keep fighting,” he has said since.

He's dancing to honour his surgeon (Image:BBC/Guy Levy)

In October Billy became the youngest double amputee to complete in an Ironman event, beating the previous world record by two hours in the process. Despite these achievements, Billy said that performing an American Smooth with Nadiya Bychkova had proved a huge challenge.

"It’s not painful for me - it’s physically challenging with my prosthetics,” he explained. "Some movements are easier than others. When I first met Nadiya we went through different movement patterns and quite quickly worked out what worked and what could be in the routine. As we’ve gone through rehearsals, we’ve changed and tweaked things along the way - it’s not been a straightforward thing. That’s part of the journey I’ve really enjoyed. I’ve liked that we’ve been learning the whole time.

"That, for me, is why I was up for doing it. As much as it’s out of my comfort zone, I love learning new skills and trying new things.” He said that Nadiya’s energy had been "infectious” and had made him fully invested in the process, adding: "She loves dancing so much and she wants to push me - at the start there were some moves where I was thinking, ‘Ooh,

I don’t know if that’s something I’ll be able to do’. But we had to put trust in each other that we could adapt it, that we could make it work for us.” Billy, who says the programme has given him a "newfound confidence”, also feels that he’s enjoyed the experience so much he could cope with the rigours of taking part in the main series, which lasts for a maximum of 13 weeks for the finalists.

"The intensity and duration of the main show can’t be underestimated,” he admitted. "But now having been in this world for a few weeks, there is part of me going, ‘I don’t want this to end’. I want it to keep going and continue to push the boundaries and try new things and show what’s possible for a double amputee dancing. I’m invested now, so I wouldn’t rule out doing the main show in the future.”

- Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special, BBC1, Christmas Day

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