Gregg Wallace will swap rum babas for the rumba when he joins Strictly Come Dancing as a celebrity contestant, reports a Sunday paper.
And the MasterChef judge, famed for his “cooking doesn’t get tougher than this” catchphrase, is having four tattoos removed before squeezing into Strictly’s tight, sequinned outfits.
Gregg has undergone several courses of laser treatment to get rid of a Millwall FC lion on his chest, a spider on his leg, a bulldog on one arm and the cross of St George on the other.
A source said: “Gregg is determined to clean up his act.
“There’s been a lot of bad press over the past couple of years - from the hotel brawl last year to his string of young women - but Gregg wants to reinvent himself for Strictly, which is a family show.
“He see this as a perfect opportunity to change the public’s perception of him,” reports the Sunday People.
Gregg, 49, punched a fellow diner during a boozy five-course meal at a Worcestershire hotel last August.
He said publisher Paul Bates had grabbed girlfriend Anne-Marie Sterpini’s bottom.
He said afterwards: “I did what any bloke would do.”
Three-times divorced Gregg has been dating Anne-Marie, 22 years his junior, for over a year.
The pair, who live together in Kent, met on Twitter.
Gregg also met his previous girlfriend, glamour model Cara Franco, and third wife Heidi Brown on the social networking site.
He split from the former teacher after just 18 months of marriage.
The dad of two is already a big fan of the dance contest. He said in a previous interview: “I’d like to do it, so you [the BBC] wouldn’t have to pay me.
“I just need the time. I’m a great dancer.”
Gregg is currently on TV judging Celebrity MasterChef.
And fellow judge, chef John Torode, agreed, saying Gregg was a “far better dancer” than him.
Judy Murray, 54, mum of tennis ace Andy, and Alan Hansen, who has just retired from the BBC as a football pundit, are also in the frame for the new series of Strictly Come Dancing, which is due to start on BBC1 in the autumn.
The final of Celebrity MasterChef begins on BBC1, Thursday, July 17, 9.00pm.
