Irish Daily Mirror

Pro Dean douses TV star’s bravado with reality check

- BY MARK JEFFERIES and TOM BRYANT mark.jefferies@mirror.co.uk

CHRISTOPHE­R Dean has warned Gemma Collins she won’t be a skate queen overnight – despite saying she could win ITV’S Dancing on Ice.

At the show’s launch Gemma was seen on tape saying: “Torvill and Dean, you’re gonna take a step to the left, cos I am about the win the Bolero Cup.”

Chris said: “She has got the talk, but we will see if the talk translates to the skate.”

When he was told she said “you never know” at the prospect of being as good as him, he looked unconvince­d and added: “Give her 40 years, then maybe.”

Collins, 37, will compete against 11 other celebs including singer Brian Mcfadden, 38, Love Islander Wes Nelson, 20, and ex-eastender Richard Blackwood, 46.

The reality star said she will be like Beyonce when she competes for the first time, and promised to channel a different diva each week for her performanc­es.

Collins has said by the fourth week she will be the ultimate showstoppi­ng diva, and channel herself as she goes “full GC”. The Only Way Is Essex star has been paired with expert skater Matt Evers.

But Chris tipped ex-strictly star James Jordan, 40, to do well if he could get through the initial weeks. He added: “He is like an athlete and competitiv­e. He feels there is a lot of expectatio­n because he is a dancer.

“But, like he says, ice is the leveller because if you can’t skate it doesn’t matter how well you can dance. When we saw them for the first time on ice what we were seeing was looking good. Although they were awkward, you can see the adventurou­s ones.”

The ice skater also said he was looking forward to the upcoming ITV drama about him and Jayne.

He said: “It was overwhelmi­ng because where do they start? They wanted to do us going to the Olympics. We were honoured.”

Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby will return to present Dancing On Ice on ITV from Sunday, January 6 at 6pm.

When we first saw them, what we saw was good CHRISTOPHE­R DEAN

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