ITV Dancing On Ice star Sir Steve Redgrave says 'not enough' as he makes honest admission

Olympic rowing champion Sir Steve Redgrave has said he was “hardly able to stand on ice” at the beginning of his Dancing On Ice training. The 62-year-old will appear as a contestant on the ITV skating show, partnered with professional skater Vicky Ogden, when it returns to screens on Sunday, January 12.

Speaking about his preparations for the show, Sir Steve told the PA news agency: “It’s very exciting, confident, probably not, but excited about it.

“Everyone talks about the journey, it’s been a fantastic journey, starting from hardly being able to stand on ice to being able to put a routine, almost, together.”

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The Olympian, who won gold medals at five consecutive Olympic Games from 1984 to 2000, said his previous ice skating experience was limited to taking his children at Christmas time, and his preparation for series one of Channel 4 skiing show The Jump, which he pulled out of due to injury.

He explained: “The last time I was on ice at all was 10 years ago, when I was on the first series of The Jump and we did some short track speed skating. But (there’s) very little basis on that, we were given these quite long skates, very different to the ones that we skate on, on Dancing On Ice. But, yeah, (I’ve had) a little bit (of experience), but not enough.”

His fellow competitor, actress Chelsee Healey, hailed her partner Andy Buchanan for making her feel “secure” during training. The 36-year-old told PA: “We’re a good team, we work well together.

“We’ve had one practice in (the arena) yesterday, and it felt so surreal, it’s a lot smaller than what it looks on TV, but it’s magical. So I can’t wait to be performing here for the first time on Sunday.

“(I’m) nervous for not doing Andy proud and messing up the routine, excited for if it goes exactly how we want it to go, and just performing our routine together would be amazing.”

The actress is best known for her roles as Janeece Bryant on BBC school drama Waterloo Road, Honey Wright in the BBC medical drama series Casualty and Goldie McQueen in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks.

She also reached the final of the ninth series of Strictly Come Dancing in 2011, when she was partnered with Pasha Kovalev, finishing as a runner-up behind McFly’s Harry Judd and Aliona Vilani.

Dancing On Ice will be presented by Stephen Mulhern and Holly Willoughby. Mulhern replaced Phillip Schofield on the show when he resigned from ITV in 2023. The show returns on Sunday, January 12, at 6.30pm, live on ITV1, ITVX, STV and STV Player.