Brendan Cole confirmed for Dancing on Ice

6 October 2021

Former 'Strictly Come Dancing' pro Brendan Cole has been confirmed for 'Dancing on Ice' - and admits he has a "massive advantage" on the show because of his dancing background.

Brendan Cole

The 45-year-old dancer is expecting to be able to master the choreography on the ITV skating series, but insisted he is "terrible" at ice skating.

Speaking on 'Loose Women', he said: "I'm so excited to get started.

"I've wanted to do it for a long time.

"I can dance and it is a massive advantage. I will hopefully pick up choreography quite easily.

"There will be certain things I don't have to think about working on during the week, because hopefully they are naturally there.

"I'm so excited that my children are going to see me do this."

But when asked if he can ice skate, he said: "I've had one go. I'm a fairly confident person and I was thinking I would be fine.

"I was terrible. I was a bit wobbly. I was hoping I was going to be better than I was, but I've got time to learn."

Brendan admitted the "easiest" celebrity contestant he had to train on 'Strictly' was either Kelly Brook or Sophie Ellis-Bextor, and the toughest was Lulu.

Quizzed on who was his easiest to train on 'Strictly' and who was the most difficult, he replied: "Easiest to train was Kelly Brook or Sophie Ellis-Bextor.

"Most difficult was unquestionably Lulu."

Sophie recently spoke out about her time on the show, describing it as being "like a cult", and admitting it tested her marriage.

She said: "Some of the show was pure joy and exhilaration. But some of it was seriously intense and, even for a strong marriage like we have, it gave our foundations a good old shake."

But Brendan admitted it was "heart-breaking" to hear about Sophie describe the show like that.

He said: "My heart broke reading it because she never let on to anything that was going on behind closed doors, even though I had a great and very close relationship with her and [her husband] Richard [Jones].

"At the same time, I thought she was really brave to do it, and I'm just glad we had a fantastic relationship on the show."

Brendan will join fellow 'Dancing on Ice' contestants, singer Rachel Stevens, 'Coronation Street' legend Sally Dynevor, Happy Mondays dancer Bez, Paralympian Stef Reid, Love Island’s Liberty Poole, rugby star Ben Foden, and Paul Gascoigne son, Regan Gascoigne, on the show next year.