Strictly star Ellie Simmonds says dwarfism has made her ‘stronger’: ‘I’m proud of who I am’
25.09.2022 - 02:51
/ ok.co.uk
Ellie Simmonds is posing on set in a pink dress and purple feather boa with the confidence of a supermodel. An icon of disabled sport, the retired Paralympic swimmer is Strictly Come Dancing’s newest recruit and is relishing her new platform – and her glow up. “I’m so excited,” she says.
“As a swimmer I don’t wear much make-up. In the past, we’ve used fake tan while swimming competitively, because if you’ve got fake tan on you feel good about yourself, don’t you? "But then 10 days into the race, all the other competitors were probably looking at us funny because we’d gone patchy. Hopefully, this one will stay on for longer!” A Paralympic star since making her swimming debut aged 13 when she won double gold in Beijing, by the time London came calling four years later, Ellie was the poster girl of the Games, winning another two gold medals on home turf.
Ellie has achondroplasia, a rare genetic condition which causes a type of dwarfism. She became the youngest recipient of an MBE, elevated to an OBE in 2013, before retiring as a five-time Paralympic champion after the Tokyo 2020 Games with 10 world records. But from those dizzying heights came a sobering loss of identity as Walsall-born Ellie tried to figure out what her future would hold.
“I’ve never really had a job before,” says the 27-year-old. “I’ve been swimming on the team since I was 12.The only thing I’ve known is being an athlete and that structure and routine. I’d lost my massive identity and the purpose that I’d had for so many years.
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