‘I thought Perri was an ice kid’

DANCING On Ice star Vanessa Bauer thought she would be skating with a

13-year-old when she learned bosses had paired her with Perri Kiely.

The German skater had no idea who he was, so did a search online and saw snaps of him as a lad.

Perri shot to fame in

2009 when his dance troupe Diversity won Britain’s Got Talent.

Vanessa, 23, told the Daily Star Sunday: “I don’t know a lot about English celebrities so I hadn’t heard of Perri. I didn’t know anything about Diversity. I’d never seen them anywhere.

“When I looked Perri up online all I could see were pictures of a 13-year-old boy on Britain’s Got Talent. There wasn’t a single picture of Perri the way he looks now. I thought I’d be competing on the show with a child. It was quite a surprise.”

Perri, now 24, joked: “When I walked through the door for the first training session, Vanessa was thinking, ‘That’s not what I ordered.’”

Since their first training session, Vanessa and Perri have formed a close bond over their shared love for performing.

They have pulled off some of the most adventurous routines ever seen on the show.

Vanessa said: “We are both quite creative people and both quite fearless. It’s always cool to try something new.

“Perri really puts in the effort.”

Bookies have had the pair as the favourites to win throughout the latest series.