Strictly star Sam Quek's 'awkward' live TV moment left Carol Vorderman asking questions

Olympic hockey player Sam Quek has wowed audiences in this series of Strictly Come Dancing. Alongside partner Nikita Kuzmin, the pair took to the floor in a Taylor Swift-inspired performance on Icons Week.

As the competition goes on the stakes are getting that much higher. Quek knows all about pressure, having had a successful sporting career before moving into television presenting.

As well as her work on Olympic broadcasts, she has been involved in coverage of the NFL, rugby and football and appeared on shows including I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here, Celebrity MasterChef and a revamped version of Question of Sport. And it was on Olympic presenting duties that Quek endured an "awkward" moment live on air. Alongside Dan Walker, Quek was fronting the BBC's coverage of the Toyko games in 2021.

READ MORE:Sam Quek's devastating family tragedy and admission over husband's Strictly 'jealousy'

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During a live broadcast segment, the pair interviewed Team GB’s chef de mission Mark English via Zoom when a topic of conversation came up that left Quek a bit red-faced. Walker asked English about Quek's behaviour during the 2016 edition of the games in Brazil.

"Was Sam well behaved in the village?" he asked, with Quek replying: "Always! Don’t ask him about after."

English replied: "As you know, social distancing and physical distancing is the order of the day so…"

Quek retorted: "Woah, woah, woah, I was in a very happy relationship then, Mark," with Walker adding: "Well this has got spectacularly awkward, Mark!"

Quek quickly turned to the camera, saying: "Just to assure everybody at home and my dear now-husband, us hockey girls are very well behaved because we compete throughout the whole tournament."

The exchange prompted Quek's former I'm a Celeb camp team-mate Carol Vorderman to contact her, wanting some answers.

Walker later said: "The repercussions of our chat about the athletes’ village after you won your gold medal continue. Sam’s already got a text from who?"

"Carol Vorderman," Quek said, "who is currently watching, asking what happened at the Olympic village. And I said nothing, because nothing did! I feel terrible because Mark has painted this weird picture of social distancing in the Olympic village."

Walker laughed: "Vorderman is demanding information, but there isn’t any."