Perri: Show so scary
DANCING On Ice favourite Perri Kiely is facing his toughest challenge yet – a shopping trolley.
The Diversity hunk, 24, has been tasked with using the prop in tonight’s routine, and it has made training sessions tougher than ever.
Perri said: “I thought when I got a prop it would be a cane or a hat. A trolley is difficult to manage. When you jump on it, there’s a good chance it’ll go up and you’ll fall. It makes skating even more terrifying.
“In the routine we get in the trolley, spin each other around and lift it up. Having it means skating has to become second nature.”
Perri and his pro skater Vanessa Bauer, 23, have been the favourites to win since the series started last month.
They’ve topped the leaderboard every week – scoring up to 38 points out of 40 from the judges.
But street dancer Perri is secretly struggling with people’s expectations. He said: “People automatically expect my performances to be perfect. So even if I struggle with a routine, the next week I have try to top it. It’s scary. “Before the series started people were saying, ‘You’ve got this…you’ve already won it.’ But people have no idea how hard it is.
“At this stage I’m still trying to work on my basics. But I’m also trying to push to make each routine even harder.” Vanessa added: “Everyone thinks Perri has an advantage because he’s a dancer, but he doesn’t. People forget that he’s not a professional ice skater.
“It takes us hours and hours to perfect the routine.”
Perri reckons fans would be stunned if they saw how much he stumbles in rehearsals.
He said: “I fall and things go wrong. Some weeks I’ve had to ask Vanessa to takes some moves out because they’re too difficult.”
Dancing On Ice continues tonight at 6pm on ITV.