‘I’ve always played it safe – this is out of my comfort zone!’
Reality star Billie Shepherd talks about her nerves ahead of her Dancing On Ice debut…
This year is set to be a busy one for Billie Shepherd. As well as renovating her dream home and filming series nine of her ITVBe show The Mummy Diaries, the former TOWIE star is taking part in Dancing On Ice, which starts tonight.
Admitting she’s full of nerves and completely out of her comfort zone, Billie confesses,“My biggest challenge is overcoming my fear of performing.This is something I’ve never, ever done before.”
But the 31-year-old says taking part wouldn’t have been possible if it hadn’t been for the support of her hubby of nearly two years, Greg Shepherd, 35, and their children Nelly, six, and Arthur, three.
Here, Billie, who is paired with pro Mark Hanretty, 35, tells us about emotions running high in training and why Nelly won’t be following in her footsteps…
Hi Billie! We’re looking forward to seeing you on
Has Greg been supportive?
Dancing On Ice.
Greg has been amazing. I couldn’t do this without him being so supportive. He does most of the food shopping and – dare I say it, because he set fire to the kitchen at the beginning of the last lockdown – takes up the cooking a lot more. He’s very supportive, I’m lucky because I get that it’s a commitment for us as a family. But when I decided to do it, Nelly and Arthur were at the top of my mind. My mum said to me,“Could you imagine their little faces seeing you do that?”
Has Nelly shown any signs of wanting to skate now you are?
The kids came to the rink but Arthur was better than Nelly! Nelly’s clumsy and her balance is not great. I asked her if she wanted to do it again and she said, “I don’t think I’m an ice-skating girl Mummy, I’m a horse-riding girl.” Whereas Arthur keeps asking, “Mummy, can I come skating?” He calls Mark “Marky Mark” – “Can Marky Mark spin me around?”
This is one of the first things you’ve done on TV without your sister, Sam. Are you looking forward to viewers getting to know a different side of you?
Yeah, I do think it will be nice to see a different side to me. I’ve always played it so safe and done stuff with my sister because I feel comfortable.
It’s almost like a security blanket. Being given this opportunity, I thought if you don’t do this now, you’ll never do it.
Was Sam impressed when she came to watch you on the ice with your niece, Rosie?
Viewers are used to seeing her with sister Samantha
They were really impressed. They absolutely loved it. We didn’t give too much away as we want to try to keep it all as a surprise. I said to Mark when I started this that people were really surprised I’m doing it and people would be less surprised if Samantha was doing it, she’s always been more sporty. When we used to go ice skating when we were young, she’d be running off and I’d be holding on to the side
like,“Mum, I can’t do it!”
Have you spoken to Gemma Collins about doing the show? Gemma’s been messaging me every now and then when I put something up of us skating. She has been sending me really lovely, supportive messages, which obviously is so nice because she’s done the show, she knows how it all works.
Which of the judges are you most frightened of skating in front of?
Torvill and Dean, they’re the champions. It’s obviously so nerve-racking, the whole performance element to the show.
I’m just so nervous. I hope that I look okay doing it. It’s so out of my comfort zone.
How are you calming your nerves?
At the moment, I’ve been so busy but I go to bed thinking about it every night. Not in a bad way as in I’m so worried but I think it’s natural to be nervous. I actually don’t know how I’m going to deal with the nerves. My mum and sister are good at calming me down. People were like, “Why are you doing this?” But I’m excited. It’s an amazing opportunity. I feel like I needed to do this to step out of my comfort zone.
‘Greg’s supportive – it’s a commitment for us as a family’
Tell us about that big fall you had in training…
I lost my balance and I went backwards but I hit the ice really quickly, and I sort of gave myself a bit of whiplash. I really hurt my
elbow, my side and my back. I sat there for a minute and Mark was like, “You’re alright?”And then he went,“Oh no you’re not,”and I started crying. I couldn’t help it. I was trying to hold it back because I’m not really an overly emotional person.
But it’s mad, during this skating, it is all different emotions.
Are you bruised and battered from training?
There’s a few bruises and when I wake up in the morning I’m aching but I do feel a little bit more toned. I’ve been trying to have an Epsom salt bath. I just try and get on with it because it is part of it.
What’s Mark like as a partner?
We’ve just clicked. We have a laugh. Mark knows how to handle me and he understands that I’m a busy mum as well, which I’m grateful for. We always find ourselves talking about food.This is so sad, like boring mum and dad here, we’re talking about what we’re going to eat over the weekend.
Who do you think is your biggest competition on the show?
In my head, I know it’s a competition and obviously I want to do the best I can do. However, it’s not like, “Oh, I have to win this”. If I know I’ve done my best and pushed myself to my limits, I’ll be happy with that. But I know some of the other girls are meant to be amazing. I’m not that worried about seeing anyone else perform at this stage because I feel quite good about my skating. I don’t want to be crushed by seeing the others and thinking,“Oh no, I’ve not got a chance.” I’m never going to be amazing ice skater but I’m going to try my best.
‘I’m really excited for the glam – the outfits, the hair, the make-up ‘
How are you feeling about the costumes for your routines?
I’m really excited for the glam – the outfits, the hair, the make-up. We’ve had a chat about things that I like and don’t like. I said to them, because I’m small and I haven’t got very long legs, that I prefer shorter rather than longer. I would prefer to be classy but sparkly glam. I don’t want anything long or baggy, I don’t think I’d feel confident skating in that kind of outfit.
How do you feel about doing the headbanger move?
Well, if I’m in the competition, we’ll be doing it. We’ll be doing the headbanger, that’s fine. When I watch it on the show, I’m on the edge of my seat. It’s really funny because everyone who asked me about Dancing on Ice said, “Are you going to do the headbanger?” Everyone wants to know.
The 13th series of Dancing on Ice starts tonight at 6pm on ITV
Family visit at the rink