Who is David James? Strictly Come Dancing star and former goalkeeper
7 September 2019, 12:00 | Updated: 10 September 2019, 16:01
David James has been confirmed for this year's Strictly line up, but who is he, what football teams did he play for and is he married?
With Strictly Come Dancing finally back on our telly screens, a new bunch of celebrity hopefuls are set to take to the dance floor.
But who is footballer David James and what has he said about joining the line up?
Who is David James?
David James is a 6ft 4in former professional footballer from Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire.
Throughout his career as a goalkeeper, 48-year-old David has played for premier league clubs West Ham, Manchester City and Aston Villa.
He also played for Bristol City and Bournemouth before heading to IBV Vestmannaeyja in Iceland and India's Kerala Blasters.
He made his debut in the World Cup in 2010 where he played their first-round match against Algeria and became the oldest ever debutant in the tournament at almost 40-years-old.
Over his 26-year career in sports, James played a whopping 572 matches which is the fourth highest ever.
Who is he paired up with?
David has been paired up with Nadiya Bychkova.
Is David James married and does he have children?
David was married to ex-wife Tanya and the former couple had four children together.
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They divorced in 2005, and in 2014 David was declared bankrupt following mounting costs from the proceedings which reportedly totalled £3million.
David then moved on with his childhood sweetheart Amanda Salmon and the pair settled down in Devon with her two children.
He married Amanda but the pair split not long after and he has now seemingly moved onto a new mystery girl, who was pictured with him in April.
What other TV shows has he been on?
The footie star has previously presented many sports programmes including BBC’s Euro's Most Shocking Moments alongside Richard Bacon in 2012.
The following year, he became a TV pundit for BT Sport's coverage of Premier League and Conference Premier matches.
David has also worked as a pundit for Eurosport at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and for Sony Ten at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
What has David said about joining Strictly?
His Strictly appearance was on The One Show by presenters Matt Baker and Stacey Dooley .
James told the BBC that is was his sportstar friend Mark Foster who convinced him to say yes after he competed in 2008.
He said: "I’ve been asked to do this quite a number of times and every time I said nah, nah, nah, not my sort of thing.
“I had a chat with Foz (Mark Foster) and he said it’s an amazing show, it’s an amazing experience, as you (Stacey and Matt) know, so this time round I said yes."
He also Tweeted:"I'm really excited to be on Strictly this year.
"Not just competing against this year's stars, but being compared to previous sports stars from previous Strictly seasons.
"I have some big shoes to fill, #LetsGetLive".
