Joey Essex nearly chopped his finger off during 'Dancing on Ice' training.

Joey Essex nearly chopped his finger off during Dancing on Ice training

Joey Essex nearly chopped his finger off during Dancing on Ice training

The former 'The Only Way is Essex' star has told how he came close to having one digit less after slicing it with a skate, and he has also taken tumbles onto his knee and shoulder during rehearsals.

Joey - who is partnered with pro ice-skater Vanessa Bauer on the ITV show - said: "I nearly chopped my finger off on the first day, with an end of a skate.

"I fell on my knee and I also fell on my shoulder."

'Dancing on Ice' will return on Sunday (15.01.23), and Joey admits training for the programme has been "so intense".

Speaking on 'Lorraine', he added: "I'm excited. It feels weird to talk about it, because I've been training for three months, and it's been so intense."

Joey recently admitted he decided to take part in the show to bring some "structure" to his life.

He said: "I think the reason I’ve decided to do this is it’s going to bring a nice bit of structure into my life.

"I also like competition and I’m very competitive. For me, this is very exciting.

"Taking part in 'Dancing on Ice' now is the right time for me. If you spoke to Joey Essex at 23 and 24, I could have said ‘yes’ to it but I probably wouldn’t have put 100 per cent into it. I feel like doing something like this, I’m very ready for it."

Joey - who won Channel 4 series 'The Jump' in 2015 - says 'Dancing on Ice' will be the "most competitive" he has ever been on a reality series.

He added: "It’s probably the most competitive I’m ever going to be in any show. With The Jump, I went into it and didn’t even think in my head that I was going to win.

"I’m really good under pressure and I don’t have much fear. It’s like going on stage and people get stage fright - I will have stage fright but I will make you think I’m not frightened whatsoever!"

'Dancing on Ice' returns on Sunday at 6.30pm on ITV1 and ITVX.

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