‘Sylvain and I are like brother and sister’
Corrie actress Mollie Gallagher on banter – and dangerous moves – with dance partner Sylvain Longchambon
When she started her Dancing On Ice journey, Coronation Street actress Mollie Gallagher had never performed live and only ever iceskated at Christmas.
Seven weeks into the live shows and she’s already pulled off the controversial headbanger lift – and now she’s keen for her professional partner Sylvain Longchambon to come up with even more dangerous moves.
“I’m pretty fearless!”laughs Mollie, who reveals the show has given her a newfound “sense of freedom” .
And that’s not all it’s given her. The 25-year-old’s now got buns of steel thanks to hours training on the ice.
Here, the star, who plays Corrie’s Nina Lucas, reveals why she doesn’t want her Dancing On Ice journey to end…
Hi, Mollie! How are you finding the experience?
Dancing On Ice
I love it so much. It’s genuinely one of the best experiences ever.
Has anything surprised you?
I’ve surprised myself in terms of how I’ve picked things up. I’m naturally quite a slow learner. I think it goes to show that if I had all the time each week to practise, I really could be quite good.
Have you found it liberating?
I love performing, I love music. When you’re on the ice there is this sense of freedom.
Fans think you’re being under-marked by the judges. How do you feel about that?
I’m pretty hard on myself.The judges know best but maybe I need to believe in myself more.
You’ve already tackled the infamous headbanger – would you say you’re fearless on the ice?
Yeah, that’s a little bit of a problem! I am pretty fearless. The lifts don’t bother me at all. Even with the headbanger, I was just kind of like, “It’ll be fine.”
Are you prepared to do more dangerous tricks to get higher scores?
Yeah, 100%! But I don’t know what’s worse than headbanging. I’m sure Sylvain can come up with something. Can we do two headbangers?
What is your secret weapon?
Being quirky. When people see the real me, the quirky part of me, I think they prefer that. People know me for playing a really alternative character and they love that. I would love to do a Nina-inspired routine – something dark and maybe something that relates to the storyline we did on Corrie.
So no sexy sass for you?
Dark and grungy is my go-to! I just
want to show that you can be who you want to be and still do all these amazing things. That’s why I’m keen on doing something less sexy and a bit more alternative. That’s what I would love to do before I leave.
Have you seen a change in your body thanks to all the training?
I’ve never had the best bum and I’m alright with that, but right now it looks alright! You get a better bum when you’re an ice-skater.
Is your boyfriend [Inego guitarist Dan Myers] enjoying you taking part in the show?
I think he’s loving it as much as me!
How have you found working with Sylvain [who is married to Mollie’s co-star Samia, who plays Maria Connor on Coronation Street]?
It’s really funny, because obviously I’m with Sylvain and he’s Samia’s husband. So I think straight away we just built this friendship that’s like brother and sister. It’s just constant banter with us.