Olympic ace Louis Smith accused of mocking Islam after yelling ‘Allahu Akbar’ and pretending to pray in boozy video
Footage shows former Strictly winner with fellow gymnast Luke Carson at wedding bash
OLYMPICS star and former Strictly winner Louis Smith has been accused of mocking Islam after appearing in a video with a mate drunkenly pretending to pray.
The footage shows him with fellow gymnast Luke Carson yelling “Allahu Akbar”, an Islamic phrase meaning “God is the greatest”.
The video, apparently shot in selfie mode by Smith during a friend’s hotel wedding bash, has been widely passed around online.
The Team GB star, 27 — who was awarded an MBE in 2013 — and Carson, 26, appear to have been drinking.
Smith is shown giggling and holding a drink as Carson takes a hanging rug off the wall.
The medal holder then chortles “Six o’clock prayers” as the friend repeatedly says “Allahu Akbar”.
Carson then kneels on the rug, bowing in mock worship before the pair yell in indecipherable howls.
At that point an elderly female wedding guest enters the frame and sits down next to the friend.
She puts her hand on his shoulder and says: “Actually, you are taking the p***, actually.”
But Smith retorts: “No, no he’s not, he’s doing his six o’clock prayers.”
Slurring Carson yells out, “The prophet Mohammed”, before Smith says: “Sixty virgins”.
It continues as the woman says: “You are not funny.”
Smith insists: “Yes it is.”
Last night a security source said of the video, taken at the wedding of gymnast Dan Keatings at Kettering Park Hotel, Northants: “Mocking religion is pretty foolish anyway.
“In the case of Islam, it can also be quite a risky thing to do.”
Mohammed Shafiq, chief executive of the Ramadan Foundation, said of Smith: “I think he should apologise immediately.
“Our faith is not to be mocked, our faith is to be celebrated and I think people will be offended.”
Smith, who has won two Olympics silvers and a bronze, triumphed on Strictly in 2012.
The Team GB star has previously spoken about his own Christian beliefs.
He was contacted for a comment but did not respond.
Last night retired ex-international Carson said: “It was a three-minute video of us just fooling around.”