Dancing On Ice is one of telly’s most physically demanding celebrity reality shows, and host Phillip Schofield thinks that age could play a factor in this year’s series.
Phillip, 59, who co-hosts the show with his This Morning pal Holly Willoughby, 40, says the younger contestants may have an advantage.
He told The Mirror: “It’s incredibly dangerous. Ice skates are fairly sharp. And so we’ve had some nasty cuts. We’ve had big falls. They’re great fun, so long as nobody hurts themselves.”
“What we love is the fearless nature. Now, you can really only have that if you’re at the younger end of the age spectrum, when you know if you fall over, it’s not going to break.”
He added: “We’ve found that the younger you are, especially if you’re a dancer, then you have that bravery, the courage and, you know, you go for it.”
Those with youth on their side in the new series include Love Island’s Liberty Poole, 21; BMX Olympic silver medalist Kye Whyte, 22; Paul Gascoigne’s son Regan Gascoigne, 25 and The Vamps’ Connor Ball, 25.
Other celebrities taking part include rugby star Ben Foden, 36; Paralympian Stef Reid, 37; presenter Ria Hebden, 38; pop star and actress Kimberly Wyatt, 39; singer Rachel Stevens, 43; professional dancer Brendan Cole, 45; Happy Mondays dancer Bez, 57 and Coronation Street legend Sally Dynevor, 58.
Meanwhile, Phillip revealed that ITV bosses actually banned him from ice skating ever since he had a close call during the first season.
He revealed that judge Chris Dean and professional ice skater Matt Evers offered to show him how it’s done, teaching Pip how to ice skate whilst on set.
He told The Sun: “I had a go, then I looked up and there were five suits standing on the lectern and I thought, “That doesn’t look good.’ ‘They said, ‘You are not insured, you can’t skate, you have to come off.’”
I thought if I take responsibility for myself, it’s nobody’s fault if I fall over and hurt myself.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
