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Tony Adams’ hilarious Arsenal-themed Strictly Come Dancing debut sees golden cannon, infamous Granada dance, sequinned number six and flood of footballs
Tony Adams’ debut Strictly Come Dancing routine involved a golden cannon, his infamous Granada dance, a sequinned number six, and even a flood of footballs.
There wasn’t much hope held for the Arsenal legend after it was announced he was taking part on the hit BBC show but he still went out all guns blazing.
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Riding down from the ceiling on a gold cannon, the Gunners’ club logo, it was clear what the audience were in for, but things just kept getting more bizarre.
With his thumbs out like a lottery winner, Adams jumped off the prop and with a shout of ‘Come on!’ he then kicked away a football his spinning dance partner Katya Jones was carrying.
Then as his version of the Tango began, it was quickly shown he had a sequined no.6 and ‘ADAMS’ on the back of his red waistcoat, the number he adorned for his career-long club between 1983 and 2000.
Adams was one of England’s greatest ever players, leading Arsenal to three league titles, but it was Jones who was doing the leading in week one of Strictly.
Dragging her partner around to the song Go West by the Pet Shop Boys, football fans would have recognised the tune as one of Arsenal’s trademarks that fans sing to at the Emirates, and all of a sudden everyone’s worst fears were confirmed.
Adams and Jones broke apart with the lyrics of the song suddenly changing to ‘One-nil to the Arsenal’ and out of nowhere came Adams’ most infamous moment of his short-tenured management career.
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The 55-year-old once surprisingly turned up at LaLiga side Granada in 2017 and despite losing all seven games as manager and overseeing the side’s relegation, there was one far more headline making moment from his time in Spain.
Clips of the England legend’s training instructions turned him into an internet phenomenon when it looked like he was almost dancing in front of his squad, and the viral clips soon resurfaced when his Strictly attendance was announced.
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And in a brilliant effort to take ownership of the clip, Adams busted it out on the dance floor before the routine came to an end and footballs rained down.
“I do have some positives,” said judge Craig Revel Horwood. “It had attack and it had aggression.”
Fellow judge Anton Du Beke was far less generous though.
“When you come out and dance we don’t know your routine,” he said. “But unfortunately neither did you.”
After his debut performance, Adams said: “I ain’t got a clue how to dance, so I’m making myself very vulnerable.
“It feels like the first day of school but you can do anything if you try.
“My former teammates do think I’m off my rocker for doing Strictly but they admire me for having the balls to give it a go.”
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