'Dancing On Ice' final features most experienced dancers of any series so far

It's an oft-voiced complaint in celebrity TV talent contests - that those who do well are the ones whose careers include professional dance training.

But Dancing On Ice's 2022 finalists share the most dance experience of any show of its kind yet, as all three competitors found fame as professional dancers.

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Former Strictly Come Dancing pro Brendan Cole, Pussycat Doll Kimberly Wyatt and dancer Regan Gascoigne will be judged in the final by ex-Strictly pro Oti Mabuse and Diversity dancer Ashley Banjo - leaving little difference in experience between the competitors and half of the judging panel.

However, the rest of the panel is of course completed by Olympic Gold medallists Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, who will assess the celebrities' skating ability.

This is all you need to know about the Dancing On Ice 2022 finalists.

Brendan Cole

Ballroom dancer Brendan Cole, 45, is one of the best known of the Strictly Come Dancing professional cast.

He appeared in the first 15 series of the BBC One show and won the first ever series with Natasha Kaplinsky, also crossing over for a number of years as Mabuse's co-star.

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Before his Strictly fame, Cole competed with another of the show's pros Camilla Dallerup in ballroom competition Come Dancing which the celebrity show was based on, and he also judged New Zealand version Dancing with the Stars from 2005 to 2009.

Cole skates with Vanessa Bauer, but spent a week partnered by Brendyn Hatfield when Bauer had COVID.

Kimberly Wyatt

Kimberly Wyatt, 40, has been dancing since early childhood and as a teenager won a scholarship to study at New York's Joffrey Ballet and the Broadway Dance Center.

She is best known as a key part of dance ensemble and popgroup Pussycat Dolls, with co-star Melody Thornton having previously competed in Dancing On Ice and Ashley Roberts in Strictly.

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Wyatt was a judge for the full five-year run of Sky series Got to Dance, as was Banjo who is now judging her.

She skates with Mark Hanretty and has regularly topped the leaderboards for scores, but been in the bottom three on public votes.

Regan Gascoigne

The least well known of the group is Regan Gascoigne, the son of footballing legend Paul Gascoigne and half-brother of Bianca.

Gascoigne, 26, has studied at both ballet school and musical theatre school, performed in The Nutcracker with the English National Ballet and been part of the singing troupe in ITV series The Real Full Monty.

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He has also appeared as a contestant in BBC series The Greatest Dancer, which featured Mabuse on the panel, too.

Gascoigne skates with Karina Manta and is the bookies' favourite to win.

Dancing On Ice takes a break this weekend but returns for the final on Sunday, 27 March on ITV.

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