Andy Murray discusses his Strictly Come Dancing prospects after playing alongside Anton Du Beke, who partnered his mum Judy on the show, at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth
Andy Murray has shot down the prospect of following his mother onto Strictly Come Dancing now that he is retired – but has targeted surpassing Tim Henman on the golf course.
The two-time Wimbledon champion called time on his tennis career last month, with his competitive energies now funnelled towards becoming a scratch golfer.
Those interests saw him contest the pro-am of the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth on Wednesday alongside Anton Du Beke, a judge and former dancer on the show.
When asked if he would consider emulating his mother Judy, who was paired with Du Beke in 2014, Murray said: ‘That’s highly unlikely. Don’t know what my brother will be doing. But it certainly won’t be me, that’s for sure.’
Murray is still pondering his next chapters, which is expected to include coaching, and has been left surprised by his sudden weight loss since the Paris Olympics. Having barely visited the gym in the wake of hanging up his racket, he has already lost shed five kilograms.
He said: ‘I haven’t been to the gym for five weeks. I said to my wife, “Look, I’m going to make sure when I stop, I’m going to make sure I stay in good shape”. And she said, “Oh, if you’re just going to go and play golf, I don’t want that”. I was like, “No, no, I’ll get myself in the gym, make sure I stay in shape”.
‘I went to the gym three of the first four days after I stopped, worked really hard, and then went up to Scotland for a couple of days for a holiday, and haven’t been back since.
‘For five weeks I’ve not been in the gym, longest ever for me probably. I don’t know if it’s like appetite, if I’m not eating as much, but we obviously have loads of the sport drinks have got lot of calories in them, and I only really drink water and coffee now. So I don’t know, I think just less calories and probably loss of muscle. I’ve lost about 11, 12 pounds, so about five kilos. It’s a lot. I was expecting the opposite to happen.’