Strictly Come Dancing star JJ Chalmers has opened up on his friendship with Prince Harry, who he met "at the side of a swimming pool" over a decade ago during training Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info War hero JJ Chalmers has opened up about his close bond with Prince Harry , revealing their first encounter was "at the side of a swimming pool" at Lympstone Commando Training Centre.
The 37-year-old met the Duke while preparing for the Royal Marine rehabilitation triathlon following his injury from a bomb explosion in Afghanistan in 2011. Chalmers recounted on the PRsonal podcast how their friendship blossomed and led to Prince Harry's creation of the Invictus Games, which provided a "platform" for injured service members to showcase their journey of recovery. He reminisced about the swift eight months from conception to the inaugural Invictus Games at London's Olympic Park.
He shared: "I met him at the side of a swimming pool at Lympstone, that's the commando training centre where we all went through training to become Royal Marines. We had this thing called the Royal Marines rehabilitation triathlon, which is like an adapted triathlon for Marines and what not." "That was in 2014 and it was maybe six months before the first Invictus Games, it might have just got a name at that point.
It took about eight months between 'we're going to do this' and walking out at the Oly.