The fiancé of Jessica Ennis has admitted being “scared” by the wave of public adulation sparked by her gold medal glory.
Andy Hill made the comment to Johnny Vaughan during a live interview for Absolute radio in front of fans at the Hyde Park Olympic festival site after Ennis captured the hearts of the nation with her heptathlon victory.
Ennis, 26, is planning an intimate wedding in her native Sheffield where the couple live in a £330,000 three-bedroom semi-detached home.
She can expect multi-million-pound sponsorship deals following her gold medal on Saturday, but Ennis says she is keen not to allow fame to change her relationship with her boyfriend of almost nine years.
“We won’t change, will we?” she said to Mr Hill at a press briefing.
He told how she had coped with the pressure of being the face of the Games.
He said: “She’s been under an intense microscope for four years and I’ve been surprised at how well she has handled it. If something about her came on the telly, then she would turn it off or flip the channel.”
Ennis said she used the task of planning her wedding to take her mind off the pressure of being Britain’s Olympics golden girl.
She celebrated her win with two glasses of champagne and a bag of chips and said: “It was so stressful all the way through. It’s absolutely nerve-racking. I never enjoy it until it’s over.”
