BBC Question of Sport star Ugo Monye ‘on verge of bankruptcy over unpaid £200k tax bill’ a year after show axe
Former rugby star and Strictly Come Dancing contestant Ugo Monye is reportedly facing the prospect of bankruptcy.
The report comes more than a year after the BBC axed A Question of Sport, which he starred in alongside Sam Quek and Paddy McGuinness.
A bankruptcy petition was lodged on December 4, a year after the 41-year-old was forced to liquidate his wellness company over a reported unpaid tax bill of almost £200,000.
The company, Show Me The Monye, was launched in 2012, with Companies House showing that HMRC obtained a winding-up order at the end of 2023.
The HMRC application calls for authority to seize the former rugby player’s assets to pay off his debts.
It comes after a difficult period for Monye, who joined the rebranded version of BBC classic, A Question of Sport, in 2021.
Once the world’s longest-running television sports quiz, the revamp saw host Sue Barker and captains Phil Tufnell and Matt Dawson replaced with the new trio, but ratings dropped dramatically from four million to around 800,000 viewers.
In December 2023, the BBC decided to call time on the once-popular programme.
Monye currently works on the BBC’s Rugby Union Weekly podcast and also provides punditry for TNT Sports.
He featured in the 2021 series of Strictly Come Dancing, where he was partnered with Oti Mabuse.
Monye retired from his rugby career in 2015 at the age of 31 following a 13-year stint with Harlequins.
He split from his wife of five years a week before he began competing in Strictly Come Dancing.
In an interview at the time he explained it had been a “tough period for us both,” emphasising no “third party” had been involved.
“Forget the Strictly curse – it’s the Covid curse!” he quipped.
“It’s been hard, at times things have seemed a bit overwhelming but it’s been a tough period for us both,” he told The Sun.
“In some relationships there is a moment, a ‘thing’, that breaks the couple.
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“It can be an exterior influence. It can be anything. But with us, it was a number of things.
“We weren’t in a volatile relationship, we never hated each other and there was no third party.
“Forget the Strictly curse – it’s the Covid curse! We ended up where we ended up.”
GB News has contacted Monye’s representatives for a comment.