OLYMPIC golden boy and Strictly star Greg Rutherford has lifted the lid on his bizarre childhood and rebellious teenage years in an explosive new book.

Here, the 2012 long jump champ and Rio bronze medallist, 29, tells how he endured years of smacking from his Jehovah’s Witness parents and rebelled by staying out all night, breaking into buildings and living life on the edge.

10 Strictly star Greg Rutherford tells all in revealing new book Credit: Dan Jones Images Ltd

I WOULD have been about five years old when I realised my family were different.

All my school friends were looking forward to something called Christmas and getting presents from someone called Father Christmas.

But when I asked my parents about it, I was told it was just not something that we do, and it was made clear I should not bring the subject up again.

10 Greg with his siblings . . . shared strict childhood

Their reaction was as bad when it came to birthdays.

These were also banned, or celebrating them was. I wasn’t even allowed to go to other people’s parties because it was against my parents’ faith.

Easter was also off the list.

It was not mentioned in the Bible, so it was not to be celebrated.

I would be thrilled to receive ­birthday party invitations from friends and I used to go home and beg my mum Tracey to allow me to go.

10 Greg as a youngster growing up near Milton Keynes, Bucks

Every time, the answer was the same: No.

I used to plead with her: “I won’t sing Happy Birthday and I won’t eat the cake, I just want to play with my friends.” But it never worked.

The first time I went to a birthday party I was in my late teens. ­Naturally, on the Monday everyone would be talking about the party they had gone to at the weekend.

Except me. It was horrible.

Our house was a volatile place

Their stance, to a lesser extent, remains today.

When it was my son Milo’s first birthday in 2015, my mum was there and made him a beautiful rainbow cake but I suspect she felt uncomfortable getting involved.

She didn’t buy presents or anything like that. My dad Andrew wasn’t there at all, nor were my grandmothers.

It was just my partner Susie’s side of the family and friends.

On the one hand, it was a bit sad.

On the other, my parents were ­baptised Jehovah’s Witnesses — they met through their faith — so I have to respect this.

10 Influence . . . father was deeply religious and used to smack him

Christmas would just be a normal day too. We would sit in our house doing nothing.

My parents would completely ignore it.

One Christmas Day morning, I took a glass and put it against the wall to listen to next door’s kids opening their presents.

I stood on a chair with the cup pressed to my ear, feeling incredibly jealous of their excitement as they unwrapped their presents while trying to be as happy as I could be for the two little girls who lived next door.

There was no room for magic or fantasy in our house. If I asked about a Tooth Fairy, my parents would be like: “Don’t be stupid, there’s no such thing.”

And Halloween was a massive no-no. Our house was a volatile place, with a lot of shouting and smacking.

My parents would have blazing rows.

10 Greg is a contestant on Strictly with pro partner Natalie Lowe Credit: PA:Press Association

And far more often than I would have liked, I took the brunt of the fallout.

Everybody argues and has the odd fight but for years it felt very explosive.

A smacking was easily dished out for any scrape my brother Rob and I got into.

My parents’ reaction to ­something even moderately bad was to smack us.

Nowadays my dad is a different person. If you were to meet him you would say he’s funny and great company.

Along with my mum, he is one of my biggest supporters.

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Since becoming a parent I have been ­determined never to be like that with Milo or any future offspring. As I approached my teens, I’m pretty sure the smacking I was getting at home lay behind my increasing bad ­behaviour.

I was rebelling because I was being punished all the time.

10 Having children 'changed him' . . . Greg with son Milo

One time I was so annoyed and angry that I punched my bedroom wall as hard as I could and split my knuckle. It summed up my frustration.

As far back as I can remember, I had this feeling of wanting to be reckless, to push the boundaries as far as I could.

In the summer holidays when I was 12, I went on all-nighters with friends.

We started by going to the old brickworks in Bletchley, Bucks, where there were abandoned offices, and breaking into them.

In summer we would head to fields on the outskirts of the industrial estate, drink and stay out until dawn.

We’d raid the huge skips, grabbing cardboard boxes and whatever else we could find, then lug them to a nearby underpass or park.

10 He's determined to do things differently with Milo and any future offspring Credit: Twitter

We’d build a massive den, get drunk then wake up around 5am.

Drinking, smoking, trespassing.

A little bit of trouble here and there — getting chased by the police every so often.

I know much of it was stupid and wrong. But I couldn’t stop myself.

I had a conscience but always ­convinced myself it was OK to hit the override button.

When I was 15, during our lunch break, I shared a bottle of Malibu

I started turning up hungover for school in Year Ten.

When I was 15, during our lunch break, I shared a bottle of Malibu.

Before long I was swaying into our humanities class, merry on the delights of life and coconut rum.

Drinking wasn’t the only stupid thing I was enjoying. Around this time, one of my brother’s friends, Dan, learned to drive.

I would often accompany him in the lanes near Milton Keynes.

10 Greg and Natalie show off some of their dance moves at The Sun HQ Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd

Which is when we started car surfing, clinging on to the roof as we whizzed around at 50mph.

Yes, this is a dumb thing to do. Yet I always did things that were risky. I developed a habit a friend christened ‘“going underground”.

I’ve got a fiery temper and the slightest annoyance can send me into the biggest rage — something I’ve ­inherited from my dad.

On my 23rd birthday in November 2009, it all kicked off after a few drinks with mates, followed by some hard partying in Oceana nightclub, the place to go in Milton Keynes, where I grew up, at the time.

As the evening ended, I craved a KFC, but when we arrived there was a gang of lads oozing trouble.

My then-girlfriend was in the queue, so I walked over to give her some money.

As I did, someone in the gang shouted: “Don’t jump the queue, you ginger ****.” I gave them some s**t back. That led to them squaring up to me. As we spilled out of KFC, the discussion got more and more spiky and heated.

Police piled in, pepper spray all over the place

Then, out of nowhere, this huge fist came flying across my face and smashed my brother Rob in the head.

I lashed out hard towards the person who hit him. I connected well and knocked the guy over the taxi rank fence and lay him out in the road.

What followed felt like a frenetic blur of punches and pain, too much alcohol and adrenaline making it hard to tell precisely what was going on.

The police came piling in, pepper spray going all over the place. It turned into an absolutely ridiculous, crazy scenario.

10 Greg was rebellious due to strict childhood and started drinking in school Credit: Times Newspapers Ltd

Eventually, the gang was arrested because it was clear they had started the fight. When the case came to court, the defence attempted to pin everything on me.

They claimed that as an athlete I have strength beyond a normal ­person, so I shouldn’t have entered into a fight — ridiculous. I’m a long jumper, not a heavyweight boxer.

What was I supposed to do when my brother was clocked? It was also clear from the CCTV the other group were all much larger and one of their guys had thrown the first punch.

Frustratingly, they ended up with a slap on the wrist.

As a sports star, it’s drummed into you that you should try to be a role model, but I want to be honest about my past. You can be a total d***head yet still succeed. If you make one mistake, or even 100, it doesn’t mean you have screwed up for good.

10 New book . . . lifts the lid on athlete's rebellious teen years

When I look back at incidents like these, I think what a complete d*** I was. I still do it now. I go downhill mountain biking in the middle of the athletics season and I love downhill skiing. The faster the better.

I see it as a way of pushing myself to the point where there is danger. I crave it. I love being on the edge.