Strictly Come Dancing - John Barnes' hidden agenda

30 November 2007 - Former England footballer John Barnes has admitted the reason he entered the competition - to lose some weight!

The star, who was sent for an early bath after going head to head with former glamour model Kelly Brook, told the Liverpool Echo that he felt fitter and slimmer after the show and that this was one of the reasons he took part.

"I was advised to eat a healthier diet & and do more exercise, which Strictly Come Dancing was partly about," he told the newspaper.

He added that due to a history of heart disease in his family he was keen to improve his health and that he was now a keen runner and has dusted off his boots to take part in five-a-side football every week.

"I am 44 now and I am never going to be as fit as I was when I was 24 and a professional footballer. But I just want to be like a normal person who goes to the gym and tries to stay as healthy as possible," he said.

Barnes, who now hosts a weekly football show on Channel Five as well as a series for Liverpool Football Club's LFC TV, made 79 appearances for England between 1983 and 1995.

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