Mo Farah's preparations for the rescheduled 2020 Olympics next summer could be hampered by a rumoured appearance on a reality TV show, says UK Athletics

Accoridng to reports in the UK media, Farah is set to go in to isolation this week so he can join the cast of the ITV show, before travelling to Gwrych Castle, north Wales, where the latest series is being filmed next month.

The reports also suggest Farah has accepted a £300,000 fee to appear in the show, but UK Athletics are more concerned about how it will affect Farah's training.

“It’s a knife-edge decision,” the UKA chief executive, Jo Coates, said. “For me as a marketer, to have athletes in mainstream TV shows is just perfection. We worked so hard to get netballers into these shows. However – and a big however – you would never want to do that to the detriment of performance.

Farah would join a long list of athletes who took part in the show. Former sprinter Linford Christie, who took home an Olympic gold medal in the 100m in 1992 took part in 2010. Silver medal javelin star Fatima Whitbread, 59, came third in 2011 with hockey star Samantha Quek, 32, coming 4th in 2016.

Swimmer Rebecca Adlington, 31, who won two golds at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, appeared on the show in 2013.

posted Friday October 30th