Adele Roberts has told how rehearsing for 'Dancing on Ice' with a stoma bag has helped her to "connect" with her body.
Adele Roberts' stoma has helped her to 'connect' with her body during Dancing on Ice
The 44-year-old broadcaster and DJ, who beat bowel cancer last year, will be the first person to take part in the ITV1 ice-skating show with a stoma bag, and because of her colostomy bag, which she nicknames Audrey, Adele has had to "really, really think" about her movement on the ice.
Asked if she was having to take precautions when it comes to her stoma, she said: "Yeah, totally. Being new to the world of stomas, I didn't really know what to expect.
"I've realised that Audrey - that’s what I call it - doesn't like the ice. She's very quiet.
"She's been a joy, actually. I've noticed that because I've got a hole on the right side of my torso, I don't have a centre where it used to be.
"I'm having to relearn how to use my body actually and rotation is quite hard.
"I've got to really, really think about my movement on the ice but it's helped me connect with my body, so it's been a blessing as well."
Adele - who will be partnered on the ice by pro skater Mark Hanretty - admitted she is taking part in 'Dancing on Ice' to "bring awareness to bowel cancer and celebrate ostomies and show what our
bodies can do".
Quizzed on whether that feels bigger than the show, she said: "Yeah, there was a little lad that came up to me at the rink one of the days that I was practising and he had a stoma and he'd only just got it.
"I think he was about six years old. His mum came up and she said, 'Do you mind if I introduce you to my son?' And explained about him and I was like, 'God, that'd be my honour.'
"He came up and she said to him, 'This lady's got a stoma too.'
"He looked at me and then I showed him and he is like, I'm going to get emotional, but his little face, he was like, 'Oh!' He'd never seen anybody that had a stoma before and yeah, that's the reason I'm doing it.
"That's why the show is bigger than just lifting the trophy. I was telling Mark as well about the little boy and he said, 'Oh, I didn't know kids have them.'
"I was like, 'Oh, absolutely. Babies can have them.'
"Anybody with a digestive issue, really. It's not a cancer thing, it's a digestive issue. Just to raise awareness for that and help those kids be able to go to school and not get bullied, that'll be everything."
Ricky Hatton Amber Davies, Greg Rutherford, Hannah Spearritt, Roxy Shahidi, and Ryan Thomas will make their 'Dancing on Ice' debuts when series 16 starts on Sunday (14.01.24).
But Adele and five other stars, Claire Sweeney, Eddie 'The Eagle' Edwards, Lou Sanders, Miles Nazaire, and Ricky Norwood, will have to wait until Sunday January 21st for their first skate.
'Dancing on Ice' starts Sunday at 6:30pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
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