Star’s family tragedy just before show started
maybe. I don’t know. I like catsuits for some reason and jumpsuits, so we’ll start there and see if I can get into the dresses. I’m not quite ready for the short slinky dresses.”
Adele’s situation has parallels with former tennis star Annabel Croft, who lost her husband, yachtsman Mel Coleman, close to the start of BBC’S Strictly Come Dancing.
She decided to continue and has since credited the show with helping her move her life forward. Adele adds: “Annabel was a huge inspiration to me. I remember watching Strictly and just being so moved by her and captivated by her. Just seeing the truth of her performance, you could tell there was something else going on in the way she expressed herself, so I’ve tried to do that on the show as well.
“I love the bond that her and Jojo [Johannes Radebe] had. I feel like me and Mark have a similar bond as well.
“That’s one of the reasons I love Dancing On Ice because it’s on after Christmas when things are a bit glum. It’s just that little bit of escapism. Annabel’s strength in grief inspired me so I just hope that I can do that for someone else because she definitely did that for me.”
Adele, who has also appeared on Big Brother and I’m A Celebrity…, has always struggled with body confidence. But living through cancer has made her rethink.
She has already said she would like to show off her stoma bag – which she calls Audrey – on the ice, to raise awareness and normalise them.
And while she is throwing herself into the training side of things, she has to try to be careful.
Adele, who is in a relationship with actress Kate Holderness, 39, admits her body is still fragile after cancer treatment. She broke her wrist before Christmas, but it healed just in time for her to do the show.
And she has popped her ribs out as she goes full on in rehearsals.
Brave Adele says: “Mark is always very mindful, so if he wants to try a lift, he’ll show it to me first and say, ‘Do you think that’ll be OK with Audrey?’ We just double-check that he can hold me in the right position. It has caused a problem in the sense when we first started doing lifts because he didn’t want to go near my stoma.
“He’d pick me up higher up, but then that popped my ribs out because the other problem is my body is still recovering, so it’s vulnerable.
“If I fall over, I fractured my wrist. I pop my ribs out, so we do have to be careful still, but we’re getting it into a good groove now where he can lift me.
“There’s a lift that we’ve got coming up which is super cool.
“He can do it without popping my ribs out, without hurting my stoma, but it’s a bit of a minefield.
“But my body is getting stronger.” Dancing On Ice continues on Sunday at 6.20pm on ITV and ITVX.