SHOW AN ICE
EXCLUSIVE
The “bad boy of ballroom” image has dogged Brendan Cole for more than 15 years. But now the former Strictly Come Dancing pro is hoping to ditch that label for good as viewers see a new side of him on Dancing on Ice.
He may be one of the favourites to win the ITV skating contest, but he insists he is only interested in beating his own score week after week. And if fans are expecting the kind of row with the judges that got him a reputation on Strictly they’ll be waiting a long time.
Because Brendan, who left Strictly in 2018, insists his overly competitive “do or die” reputation isn’t really him at all.
He says: “I had 15 years of that narrative, regardless of how funny I was or the silly stuff that I got up to backstage.
“If my Strictly partner wanted to work hard and try and be there at the end, I’d be working my backside off. But if my partner was like, ‘I don’t want it that much’, that was fine also.”
The New Zealand-born star adds: “Now people can see what I’m really like – a bit of an idiot most of the time!”
During nearly two decades on the hit BBC1 dance show Brendan, 45, was paired with celebrities including Kelly Brook and Lisa Snowdon. So how does his latest dance partner, 25-year-old proskater Vanessa Bauer, compare?
I’ve had a handful of partners I’ve loved working with... Vanessa’s exactly the same BRENDAN COLE
SKATER ICE PARTNER VANESSA BAUER
Brendan says: “Within my field, I’ve had a handful of partners who I’ve absolutely loved working with, they were inspiring to me as a dancer and I’ve loved the feeling of dancing with them – and I’m so very thankful Vanessa’s exactly the same.
“She’s got something very special on the ice. She’s a phenomenal skater, exceptionally talented. I’m very, very lucky to have been partnered with her.
“There are a few elements to our personalities that just work. We love that feeling of, ‘It’s not quite good enough until the day’. We have that same drive, the same work ethic. She’s got a little bit of spice in her, which I like.
“She gives me a look every now and then and I know I’m in trouble and just go, ‘Sorry!’ She has to put up with my ridiculous sense of humour and the crazy things I say and do on the ice. So I think that just works.”
Brendan has taken his position in the show so seriously that in the early days of training he rented a flat near the Slough Ice Arena in Berkshire where he trains with Vanessa during the week. In the few months of training before the series started, his family – wife of 11 years Zoe and their children Aurelia, nine, and Dante, three – remained at their home in Mallorca.
Just as with Strictly, stars of Dancing on Ice are dogged by rumours of a “curse”. Brendan was hit by Strictly’s first “curse” claim in 2004, when he had a close relationship with his
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