Ex-England manager Sam Allardyce might have been revealed as a Strictly Come Dancing contestant today on Good Morning Britain earlier today.
The 64-year-old is best known for digging teams out of the relegation zone before leaving with a big pay-off the next season. Nicknamed 'Big Sam', the larger than life character appears to be swapping the touchline for the dance floor in an unexpected career move. Whether he'll make a big splash or crash out of the competition early on remains to be seen.
Jamie Laing and Anneka Rice were the two other names accidentally 'leaked' on the show by radio presenter Iain Lee.
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During the show, Iain turned to Ben Shephard and Kate Garraway and announced: "They are going to announce the first three people on a show called The One Show - it's going to be Sam Allardyce, Jamie Laing and Anneka Rice."
Visibly shocked, Ben asked: "They are announcing it later and you have already announced it?"
Iain took the gaffe in his stride and addressed the situation by saying: "Sorry One Show! Sorry Alex Jones!"
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Ben repeated the names that had been given and Kate added: "See Anneka I think will be good, Jamie will be good. You know Sam quite well.
"Do you think he's got a quickstep in him?"
Ben replied: "Undoubtedly!"
Who is Sam Allardyce?
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If haven't been following the English Premier League then Sam Allardyce might be someone you're not familiar with. Due to his controversial nature, it wouldn't surprise us if he became a household name during the show.
Big Sam was born on October 19, 1954 making him 64 years old. His first foray into football management was taking charge of Irish side Limerick as player-manager in 1991. Just a year later he took the role of caretaker at Preston where he hung up his boots for good. He took charge of Blackpool from 1994-96 but was sacked after losing to Bradford in the play-off semi-finals.
Not one to give up, he took over as Notts County boss from 1997-99. During his time at the Magpies, he led them to promotion from Division Three before taking charge of Bolton Wanderers. It was here he made a name for himself. Known for his long-ball tactic, he managed to combine a number of flair players into his style including Wanderers legend Jay-Jay Okocha (so good they name him twice).
In 2001, he managed to get Bolton into the Premier League, beating his former club Preston in the play-off final. During their time in their Premier League, Sam managed not only to give the big boys a run for their money but finished 6th and qualified for the Uefa Cup twice.
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Since then, he had an unsuccessful eight months at Newcastle, kept Blackburn Rovers up before being replaced by his assistant, got West Ham promoted from the Championship in his first season in charge and then kept struggling Sunderland in the Premier League.
His big break came when he was hired as England manager. However, he was sacked after just 67 days after he was caught trying to net himself a speaking deal in an undercover sting by the Daily Telegraph.
Sam's last two ventures saw him at Crystal Palace and then Everton, where he got a huge payoff for the latter.
If you want to see whether his success as a football manager translates to winning moves on the dance floor, you'll have to tune into Strictly Come Dancing this September.
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