Shaun Ryder reveals he was asked to be on Strictly Come Dancing but was "f***** off" for fear he might swear on live TV

The Happy Mondays and Black Grape singer says he was asked to be a contestant on the dance show around the same time he was approached to appear on I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!

Shaun Ryder almost appeared on Strictly Come Dancing — but his potty mouth got in the way and landed him in the celebrity jungle instead, the singer has claimed.

The Happy Mondays and Black Grape frontman told Absolute Radio he was asked to be a contestant on BBC1's dancing competition but said he was ultimately "f***** off" due to his swearing habit. He went on to appear on I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! in 2010, finishing as runner-up behind Stacey Solomon.

"I did get asked to do Strictly, yes, I did and it was at the same time I got asked to do the jungle," Ryder said. "So the absolute truth of that is Strictly f***** me off and the jungle had me."

The outspoken singer then gave viewers a taste of the Strictly that might have been, had he been picked to appear on the program. "I don't think they were going to allow me to go on Saturday night television live on the BBC," he added. "I might have said 'F*** off, you c***. Who the f*** do you think you are, you bunch of t**** talking about me?'"

He admitted: "I might have done that, just might. There might have been a small chance."

While he didn't get to show off his moves on Strictly, Ryder was thrilled to appear on I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!, where he had a "brilliant" experience.

This isn't the first time the singer has discussed his Strictly history, though he has previously offered a slightly different explanation as to why he never appeared on the show.

Ryder told The Sun back in 2016 that he was asked to compete but declined for fear of looking like a t***, referring to the judges as "c****."

"I got asked to do Strictly. The problem with Strictly is it doesn’t really do anything for you, does it?” he said at the time.

Ryder further railed against the dance show: "You go on and you dance like a t***, right? And then you stand there while some c*** tells you how bad you are and what a w***** you are.”

Back in 2010, however, Ryder also implied he would have been on board to appear on Strictly but was unable to do so due to his foul-mouthed tendencies.

"Producers wanted me to do Strictly and I said yes, but the head of the BBC ruled that I couldn't be trusted live on Saturday primetime," he said at the time. "I have got a naughty mouth but I wouldn't have sworn on the live shows."