Strictly star reveals he danced just hours after attending father's funeral as he addresses 'preventable' death
Strictly Come Dancing star and former Rugby Union player, Ugo Monye, has opened up about the heartbreaking moment he discovered his father had cancer. The 41 year old TNT Sports pundit revealed that he was unaware of his dad's illness until after his 2021 death, which was three weeks before Ugo appeared on the ITV dancing competition.
Ugo dedicated his first dance with professional partner Oti Mabuse - which took place just hours after the funeral - to his father, Theophilus, who passed away at the age of 81.
Ugo shared that his father, who resided in Nigeria, was diagnosed with prostate cancer during the Covid pandemic, but this information was not relayed to his family by carers until after his passing. This revelation, along with travel restrictions at the time, meant that Ugo never got the chance to bid his father farewell, whom he hadn't seen for several years following Theophilus' move to Nigeria after separating from Ugo's mum over 15 years ago.
The father-of-two was attending a friend's book launch when he received the "shocking" news of his father's demise. Despite the devastating news, Ugo chose not to leave early "in case people started asking questions".
He even had to virtually attend his father's funeral via Zoom due to the travel restrictions to Nigeria at the time, reports the Mirror.
It was later revealed that Ugo's father had been battling prostate cancer for six months before his passing. In a heartfelt interview with The Sun, Ugo expressed his profound shock and grief: "It was a massive shock. A huge amount of grief. It's just the frustration as well, because prostate cancer is so treatable.
"I wish my dad had been made aware or perhaps been more proactive in understanding what he had. With lots of people who contract prostate cancer, you can get treatment which can ultimately save lives. Any loss is a sad loss, but when you get a sense it could have been prevented, that's something that just lingers."
Later, on Strictly Come Dancing, an emotional Ugo shared: "I can't provide a coherent answer on how I got through that night. I knew the day would be a difficult one. Strictly was a distraction during that time and part of me was grateful for that distraction and release."
During the live show, Ugo paid a touching tribute to his father by dedicating his first dance, a lively samba to Justin Wellington ft Small Jam's Iko Iko (My Bestie), to him.
He moved the audience to tears when he remarked: "So my dad passed away a couple of weeks ago so we had his funeral this morning. During the funeral, they spoke about today being a day of celebration and that's exactly how today feels. So there's no better way of celebrating him by dancing. Tonight feels really special."
During his stint on Strictly, where he was commended by judges for "giving it his all" and fans admired his courage despite a back injury, Ugo Monye was sadly voted off in week five. The competition was eventually won by the talented Rose Ayling-Ellis alongside her dance partner Giovanni Pernice - who will not be competing in the upcoming series.
