Bez signs up to 'Dancing On Ice' 2022 and teases 'awful' skating

Happy Mondays star Bez has been announced as the second celebrity taking part in the next series of Dancing On Ice.

The dancer, famed for his maraca shaking, joins Coronation Street's Sally Dynevor in the cast for the 2022 series after she was named earlier in the day on Lorraine.

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Bez, real name Mark Berry, was a guest on Monday's This Morning as Dancing On Ice hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield revealed that the recent Celebrity MasterChef contestant had signed up to skate.

The 57-year-old warned that he was unlikely to win the show and said he thought he'd been chosen as the joke contestant.

He said: "How I got picked I don't know because I was absolutely awful at the audition.

"I think that's why they picked me.

"Last year at Christmas I ended up using my son's penguin to get round the ice."

As Willoughby asked him how he felt about the fake tan and sequins that he would need for his performances, Bez replied: "You never know, I might grow to like it."

He also got a video message of encouragement from bandmate Shaun Ryder, who said: "Be sure to keep those maracas warm because it can get a bit cold."

Bez launched his own YouTube fitness channel, Get Buzzin' With Bez, during lockdown and said getting into shape had been good preparation for skating.

Talking about why he'd started the fitness channel, he said: "We had the most beautiful summer and I was sat in my garden drinking cider, eating chocolate."

Earlier in the morning, Dynevor, 58, admitted she had broken the news about joining the cast a few days early to some of her Corrie co-stars who have taken part in the contest before, who include her on-screen daughter Brooke Vincent.

She said: "I know I shouldn't have done this but on Friday I set up a little WhatsApp group with all the Corrie ice skaters and I told them because I didn't want them to find out through the press, I wanted to tell them myself."

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Meanwhile, John Barrowman, who was facing allegations of sexual misconduct earlier in the year, has been axed from the judging panel.

An ITV spokeswoman said in a statement: “We thank John for two brilliant years on the Dancing on Ice panel and are pleased to be working with him again as host of the forthcoming All Star Musicals specials.”

Watch: Bez struggles to pronounce 'anchovies' on Celebrity MasterChef