Peter Crouch: who is ex-footballer joining The Masked Dancer - height, who is his wife, does he have a podcast

It’s been announced that former professional footballerPeter Crouch will be stepping in for Mo Gilligan on the panel for the second season of The Masked Dancer- something he says his children are much more interested in than they ever were with his extensive sporting career.

Crouch, known for his famous celebratory robot dance whilst he was playing football, has said that since retiring from the sport, he has enjoyed his position of being able to take on projects simply “because they look like they’re going to be a lot of fun”.

This is everything you need to know about Crouch - and when you can see him on the panel for the newest season of The Masked Dancer.

Who is Peter Crouch?

Crouch is a English former professional footballer who played for the national England team from 2005 to 2010, as well as teams like Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa, Liverpool, Portsmouth and Burnley.

The 41-year-old ex-striker was born on 30 January 1981 in Macclesfield, Cheshire, however when he was one year old, his family moved to Singapore. He and his family lived in Southeast Asia for three years before returning to England.

He began his footballing career with Northolt Hotspurs before being invited to join the Brentford Centre of Excellence in 1991, where he also played for the club West Middlesex Colts.

Crouch signed his first professional contract with Tottenham Hotspur on 2 July 1998, and was called up to the England senior squad in 2005, where he made his debut against Colombia.

Between 2005 and 2010, Crouch scored 22 goals for the team and appeared at two FIFA World Cup tournaments.

Crouch retired from football in July 2019, after his contract with Stoke expired, at the age of 38.

In a statement shared on Twitter, Crouch said: “After a lot of deliberation this summer I have decided to retire from football. Our wonderful game has given me everything.

“I’m so thankful to everyone who helped me get there and to help me stay there for so long.”

He also added: “If you told me at 17 I’d play in World Cups, get to a champions league final, win the FA Cup and get 100 @premierleague goals, I would have avoided you at all costs.

“It’s been an absolute dream come true.”

How tall is he?

Crouch is known for his height, measuring in at a whopping 6ft 7in (2.01m) - while tall players might be expected in other sports, like basketball or volleyball, his giant frame proved unusual in the footballing world.

Regarding his height, Crouch said in a “life in the day” profile for the Times earlier this year: “Because of my height, people always took the p**s out of me, so I knew that I had to be able to take the piss out of myself to beat them to the punch.

“If I’d been 5ft 9in, I’d be a different person. I do still get comments. People might ask me to get something down from the top shelf at the supermarket and think they’re the first person with the tall gags but they’re obviously not.

“One problem of being this tall is getting trousers to fit. I get them made sometimes by this amazing website, 2tall.com — and no, I’m not getting paid to mention them.

“Unlike other sites that cater for tall people who are about 30 stone, they make them for people like me.”

Last year, Crouch also sat down with Joe.co.uk to discuss all the “stupid questions” he has to deal with due to being tall.

When asked “What’s it like being so tall?”, Crouch replied: “It’s all I’ve ever known. I’m not one of those people who just shot up from nowhere, you know, I was always like a head above everyone else at school; I was always the tallest, always had nicknames for being tall and things just never changed. I wouldn’t change it for the world.

“My pals still call me ‘Taller’ and that’s just my name - all my schoolmates still call me that. There’s been loads over the years but when you start to being able to give it back people often stop calling you stuff.”

Is he married?

On 30 June 2011, Crouch married model Abbey Clancy after being together for six years.

Crouch and Clancy met in a bar, Crouch told The Chris Moyles Show on Radio X.

He said: “We got on fantastically well. She gave me her number - amazingly - she went away and I just carried on with my evening, and I should have known then, but I was talking to someone else who was also female.

“She came over and said, “Look at you! Who do you think you are?” as if we were married already.

“She went mental! And I was like, “I’m only talking”. I should have known then!”

Clancy told Closer in 2014 that it was love at first sight when she met Crouch.

She said: “I saw Pete and I knew he was the one for me, I knew he’d be my boyfriend. I still think that. I feel so lucky I have a beautiful child and a great husband.”

The pair married at the 18th century Church of St Mary Magdalene, situated on the grounds of the luxury Stapleford Park Hotel in Leicestershire.

Crouch said to the Guardian that he proposed to Clancy “in a villa in Ibiza” where he “set up candles all the way downstairs so she could follow them to me”.

Together, Crouch and Clancy have four children together - daughter Sophia, born March 2011, and Liberty, born June 2015, and sons Johnny, born January 2018 and Jack, born in June 2019.

Does he have a podcast?

Crouch has hosted his podcast That Peter Crouch Podcast since 2018 alongside his co-host Chris Stark, where the two discuss everything and anything to do with football.

After spending three years at BBC Radio 5Live, That Peter Crouch Podcast moved over to Acast earlier this year, rebranding as That Peter Crouch Podcast: Back Stronger.

In 2019, the podcast won the Spotlight Award at the British Podcast Awards.

At the time, the judges said that the podcast “found a totally new perspective on one of the nation’s most discussed pastimes. Full of wit and personality, this is a podcast that has brought people together, regardless of which club they support”.

That Peter Crouch Podcast also won a silver award for Best Sports Show at the Audio and Radio Industry Awards in 2020.

When is he joining The Masked Dancer?

The former professional footballer is set to step in for Mo Gilligan on the judging panel for the second season of the bizarre ITV show The Masked Dancer.

Gilligan is unable to take part in the new season of the programme due to touring commitments.

Crouch will join the returning celebrity detectives, former Strictly Come Dancing star Oti Mabuse, talk show host Jonathan Ross and TV presenter Davina McCall.

Comedian and presenter Joel Dommett is also returning as the host once again.

Ahead of the first episode, Crouch said: “It’s madness. Completely different to anything that I’ve ever done before.

“My kids love the show. I played football for England and Liverpool, I played in cup finals, played in the Premier League and played in world cups, but my kids, the only thing they want to talk to me about is The Masked Dancer.

“They absolutely love it. They came and watched one of the shows and absolutely loved it and it’s all they’ve talked about since.”

Crouch said that after his footballing career he was now doing things “because they look like they’re going to be a lot of fun”.

He added: “I feel in a real privileged position to be able to do that. I just absolutely love doing The Masked Dancer, it’s loads of fun.

“No-one’s taking themselves too seriously and the dancers are just really going for it. My kids are just so proud of me, which is great.”

Crouch said he had a “really good dynamic” with the other celebrity panellists.

“I’m the new boy, but I’ve moved clubs so many times in football I’m quite used to that anyway. Everyone’s just been so friendly,” he said.

“Jonathan and Davina, they have both been in this world for so long and are absolute legends at what they do. Oti’s been lovely, she’s the proper dance critic.

“And Joel’s fantastic at what he does. He always brings a smile to everyone’s face. I’ve really got on well with the group and it’s been fun.”

Dommett said Crouch had been “taking it seriously” since joining the panel.

He added: “He’s a sportsman so he wants to win and that’s made him a great sportsman and also a good detective on the show.”

Ross admitted they had made Crouch do his famous robot dance move, which he debuted in 2006 while celebrating a goal.

McCall said working with the sportsman had made her very popular among some of her friends.

“He’s given me massive kudos with all the men and female football fans in my life,” she said.

What is The Masked Dancer - when is season 2?

The Masked Dancer is a dancing competition in which celebrities take to the dancefloor whilst disguised as an alter ego in a bid to wow the panel.

It’s up to the panel, made up of Mabuse, Ross, McCall, and now Crouch, and viewers at home, to try and figure out who the mystery dancer is. Clues regarding their identity will accompany each dancer to help crack the case.

In the first season of The Masked Dancer on ITV, which aired last year, retired British gymnast Louis Smith was crowned as the winner, with his alter ego “Carwash”. Actress Bonnie Langford (Doctor Who, EastEnders) came in second as “Squirrel”, and in third place was musician Howard Donald as “Zip”.

The Masked Dancer is a spinoff of the show The Masked Singer, in which disguised celebrities sing, rather than dance.

The Masked Dancer series two starts on Saturday September 3 at 6.30pm on ITV and ITV Hub.