Strictly star and Olympian Montell Douglas says course at MDX "opened doors for me"

First British woman to compete at both Summer and Winter Olympics says she is "absolutely ready and super-excited" for the much-loved series

Multi-sports Olympian and Gladiators star Montell Douglas, who takes to the dancefloor on Saturday night in the 22nd series of BBC1’s Strictly Come Dancing, says her time at MDX as a postgraduate student gave her “the compassion, confidence and understanding” to pursue her goals.

“Middlesex for me was about second chances,” she told the MDX Alumni team in 2021. She had originally hoped to do her first degree in Psychology, but it was oversubscribed, so she relished the opportunity to return to the subject for a post-graduate diploma in Psychology in 2009 – in the meantime having broken the GB women’s 100 metre record with a time of 11.05 seconds and competed in the Beijing Olympics. While she was at MDX, she won Gold in the 4x100 metre relay at the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

She describes her MDX experience as a “combination of distance learning with a community”.

A bit older than most of her classmates, she met one of her best friends on her course (she describes themselves more than a decade later as “inseparable”), and had a “great connection with the sports staff that really assisted me”.

Montell’s hard-working ethos as a student set her up for a career in which she has worked consistently alongside training: as a mentor and coach, a children and young people’s physical and well-being co-ordinator for a local authority, and as a public speaker and women’s and disability sports advocate, among other roles.

Credit: BBC

“My course opened doors for me into my passion,” Montell said. “I use aspects to the area I studied all the time within my coaching but also throughout my work within the community and corporate world”.

A highlight from her time at MDX was winning 100 metres Gold at the 2012 British Universities & Colleges Sport Athletics Championships, the first sporting meet held at the London Olympic Stadium, while a fellow MDX student - Ashleigh Nelson, who Montell later went on to coach – came second. “It was a nice moment, as I had been wanting to compete and represent Middlesex for a while but due to many hiccups and injuries, I was unable,” Montell said.

Montell switched from sprinting to the bobsleigh in 2016, being picked as Great Britain’s reserve athlete at the 2018 Winter Olympics and competing in the 2022 Games, thereby becoming the first British woman to take part in both Summer and Winter Olympics. 

“I want to lead a full life. People ask why I do it, but if you can then why not? To experience two different sports, which are polar opposites, is an incredible experience that I want to hold onto forever… I hope it will inspire a load of women into sport.”

Montell Douglas in an interview with The Times.

In 2023, she was unveiled as a cast member in the revamp of BBC1’s Gladiators, describing her character Fire as “a bundle of laughs and fierceness [who] does not take any prisoners in gameplay”. She is returning for a second series in the new year.

A talented street dancer growing up, she told The Sun on her selection for Strictly last month: “I’m super excited… I feel like I belong there. It's been at the absolute top of my list from the beginning of time.

“When I was little I really wanted to dance - I completely had to stop dancing to commit to being an athlete.

“But now I've hung up my sprinting shoes, got some heels and some glitter and I'm just excited to get out there”.

Montell’s advice to current students is to “Soak it all in!”

“I find that perspective is everything and I think that we often forget what's happened because we didn't take time to absorb what we went through. Take in the surroundings, make use of the wonderful opportunities that are still within your reach. Soon, you won't be there so it's important to do it while you can."

Find out more about studying Psychology at Middlesex University.