Former 'Strictly Come Dancing' star JJ Chalmers has urged bosses to have more disabled contestants.
JJ Chalmers wants Strictly Come Dancing to have more disabled stars
The 37-year-old presenter and Invictus Games medallist- who served in the Royal Marines and was injured in a bomb blast in Afghanistan in 2011 - has called for greatest representation on the BBC's Latin and ballroom show, which has typically featured just one disabled person in each series.
He told the Daily Star newspaper: "Around 20 percent of people have a disability, so TV has a way to go when it comes to representation.
"'Strictly' is a great example. There's usually one contestant out of 16 who is disabled. But probably they should have two."
This year, the show will feature two contestants with a disability for the first time.
Blind comedian Chris McCausland was the first celebrity to be announced, while deaf 'Love Island' star Tasha Ghouri will also take part.
JJ - who is on the Channel 4 presenting team for this year's Paralympics - added: "We have made a huge leap forward but there is still so much work to be done."
Chris, 47, lost his sight at the age of 22 when he was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, and he recently admitted he was very "apprehensive" taking on the challenge.
He told ITV's 'This Morning: "[I'm] apprehensive, massively apprehensive. I don’t know what I’m getting myself into, I've never watched it, obviously. It's just some music. I don't dance, I have never danced. I grew up with headbanging and mosh pits."
But the TV star admitted he is wondering how he is going to compete given his vision impairment and joked that he is not even going to think about what could "possibly go wrong" at this moment in time.
He said: "If anybody out there is thinking - How the hell is he going to do that? - then rest assured that I am thinking exactly the same thing.
"I don't dance, I haven't danced, I can't dance, I can't see the dancing I will have to do. What can possibly go wrong? Ok don't answer that."