‘Rebekah Vardy’s looking strong!’
Ice-skating legends Christopher Dean and Jayne Torvill are delighted with the star line-up this year, which includes West End actress Denise Van Outen, 46, singer Jason Donovan, 52, and WAG Rebekah Vardy, 38. And speaking ahead of Sunday’s performances, the pair shed some light on what they’ve seen behind the scenes during training.
Christopher, 62, says, “Denise has done everything in showbusiness – she’s such a creative, talented entertainer. But strap some blades to your boots and put yourself on slippy stuff and it’s a whole new ball game. You’ve got to learn those basics, and I think Denise has found it challenging. She wants to do everything she can do on stage on the ice, but it’s a different challenge.” Jayne, 63, adds, “Jason wants to get everything completely right – he’s a bit similar to James Jordan [who won in 2019]. They get frustrated with themselves. As a great singer, performer and entertainer, he wants to be just as good on the ice.
“And Rebekah has been showing some really good promise... her actual basic skating looks quite strong, from what we’ve seen so far. I think her partner Andy has been pushing her to do some of the big lifts.”
Christopher adds that the socialdistancing measures in place due to COVID restrictions mean he can’t be close to his ice-skating partner of 45 years – and says it’s one of the strangest aspects of this year’s show.
Christopher says, “We danced together in September, and prerecorded some numbers for the show. But now we can’t touch each other until the end of the series! It’s so surreal not being able to dance with each other.”