What made you sign up to Dancing On Ice?

I didn’t think an opportunity like this would present itself, especially because I haven’t been on telly for so many years. I thought that ship had sailed. But when the producers pulled me in for a meeting, they solely recognised me as a musical theatre performer. And for me, I was like, “Oh, that’s so lovely.” I don’t feel like opportunities like this come around often, at my age, to learn a brand new skill from scratch. I love pushing my mind and pushing my body, and because I have trained in dancing, I was so intrigued to see if any of it’s the same. And actually, although the terminology in the language is the same, it’s not the same on ice. It’s not. I really feel like I’m learning a new skill.

Has that been a shock to the system to realise that actually you’ve got to forget all your dance training and start again?

Yes because in my mind I thought it’s got to be similar but it’s not – it’s the polar opposite. In dancing, all of your legs have to be pointed and turned out, where here a lot of it you have to do with a sickle foot, that’s been drilled out of me – never sickle your foot. And now I’m having to introduce it, it’s so alien.

What did your family and friends think when they found out you were doing the show?

My mum nearly had a heart attack because obviously when you sign up to a skating show there is danger involved. And with me being on stage every day, I think there were just alarm bells in her head like, “Oh my God, this could go terribly wrong.” But I just think if you have that narrative throughout life, you’ll never do anything. I want to do this. I know my body well enough to look after myself mentally and physically. I keep sending my family videos, they can actually see from afar that I’m getting more confident. I think every day they’re getting more and more confident with me being on the ice.

Have you got any skating experience?

I would say before my masterclass, I’d skated a handful of times in my life. I got to about 14 where I was like, “Mum, I actually really do want to be on the stage.” And as soon as that decision was made, I wasn’t allowed to go skiing. I wasn’t allowed to go ice skating just in case it jeopardised my training in musical theatre. One of my biggest memories from secondary school is all of my year going on a skiing trip, and I was the only one that didn’t go, and I had to go and spend the week with the year below me and it was just like the biggest FOMO ever. Now I look back and my mum was doing it for the greater good.

On a scale of Todd Carty crashing off the side of the rink to Nile Wilson, where are you?

It’s really difficult because you see the other contestants at the masterclass and I don’t know how I’m getting on. I don’t know whether I’m forward or behind. With my instinct I feel like I’d say I’m mediocre. I wouldn’t say I’m the worst and I’m definitely not the best because I still have the fear factor in my mind but I think I’d probably be sat in the middle.
Is there anyone you can turn to for advice about the show?

I’ve obviously got Kem – I text him a couple of times and he’s given me some advice on bits and bobs but he did it so long ago. I’m surprised he even remembers! He just said, “It’s all about confidence.” I over complicate things in my mind and I’m a bit of a control freak. I can’t just let go. Kem literally said to me, “You just need to relax.” It’s so hard to do that when you’re on the ice because you’re thinking about so many things. The more I get on the ice, the more relaxed I’m getting.

Do you feel like you’ve got anything to prove?

Not really, no. The biggest competition is with myself. I just want to be better than I was last session. I feel like when we get to the live shows, I’ll just want to be better than the week before. I guess the further I get in the competition, it will be more like, “I’m onto you, I’m getting you knocked out!” I think as I’m finding my feet now, I’m really just focused on myself and being better than I was yesterday. I just know the more that I do it, the more weeks that I get through, my competitive streak will come out. I know it will!

How do you think your nerves will compare to walking out in the Love Island Villa all those years ago?

I feel like as I get older, my nerves are getting worse because I care more. It’s all about controlling your breathing and I need to ground myself. Nerves affect me quite a lot – I shake! My legs shake and that’s not good on the ice. That’s what I’m a little bit worried about. Even on opening night in Pretty Woman, my lip was shaking a tiny bit. My body trembles but I’m hoping that by the time the first week comes around, we would’ve run the routine so much that I’d be like, “Okay, I’ve got this.” Also with nerves, you’ve got to be careful because adrenaline can make you a bit scatty. You’ll push things that you don’t need to push and then you over-dramatise from rehearsals because that’s when things can go wrong. It is about remembering what I’ve done and staying grounded, basically.

What was your first day on the ice like?

I was terrible! I was pulling myself around with my upper body. I couldn’t even move my own legs. I remember looking at the other contestants thinking, “Oh my gosh, I am really below average here.” That put a bit of a fire up my arse. I thought, “I’ve really got to work hard here,” because Adele, Lou, they were all a bit of a natural and they had a fearless streak in them and I was a bit more wary. Being around them on the ice made me push myself a little bit more. Now that I’ve met my pro, Simon, and we are together every day, even just having that relationship with him, I feel really safe with him. I will push myself but I was terrible – I was like Bambi when I first got on.

Has anything about the training for the show surprised you in any way?

When I was 16, I moved to London and I trained for three years at a drama school. I was doing 12 hours a day of dancing for three years. I feel like it’s kind of tapping back into that. It’s like you’ve got to discipline yourself and it just reminds me of that. I feel like I have to be so cautious about what I’m eating. I’ve eliminated alcoholcompletely. I have to eat to fuel myself but also I don’t want to take it too seriously either. If I have a bad day, I have a bad day. It’s reminding me of those three gruesome years I did training, though nothing will compare to that. I get a snippet of that every time I go on the ice.

When the show starts, what’s happening with Pretty Woman?

I’m taking a break from Pretty Woman and I’ll be solely focusing on Dancing on Ice.

What’s Simon like to work with and what kind of teacher does he need to be to bring the best out in you?

I feel like Simon and I are very, very similar. We’re very emotional. We care a lot and we share the same language because he’s an ice dancer. If he was just an instructor, I feel like we’d clash because we don’t speak the same language but we really, really are on the same wavelength. And he’s just so easygoing. He pushes me – he’s cruel but he’s kind! He’s so mindful of my schedule but he’ll always push me in every session that we’ve done because I feel like he knows I’ve got it in me.

How are you feeling about partner work?

I’m so used to it. Every show that I’ve done, whether it’s West End or tour, you have to have those connections. There’s always some form of connection. So I don’t even think about that at all.

Are you feeling any pressure that you’ve got to perform as you’re a West End star?

Not really. Greg used to play ice hockey when he was younger, if anything I think he’s the front-runner. Eddie the Eagle, he knows how to move on ice and in snow. I think anyone who has been introduced to ice skating from a young age, they would be the ones that are more of the front-runners. The only good thing is the performance aspect. I won’t have to work on that as much as some of the other people but then again, they might be better on the ice anyway. I feel like it’s a real fair playing field.

Are you quite fearless when it comes to being thrown around by Simon so you are happy to take on those big lifts?

I feel like I’m going to be more in my comfort zone in the air than I will be on the ice! I’m only five foot two. In partner work and stuff like that, it’s always like, “Okay, go and pick Amber up because she’s the easiest one.” I’m used to being up in the air and I trust Simon wholeheartedly as well, I’m up for anything. I’m a bit of a daredevil.

I don’t think I’d be doing the show if I wasn’t a daredevil. My mum wasn’t surprised at all that I was doing it but I would love to get the headbanger out in the first week, I just don’t know if they’ll allow us because no one’s done it. No one has done the headbanger in the first week. And I thought, “If anyone’s going to do it, it’s going to be me!”

Are you ready to embrace the Lycra, sequins and spray tans?

Yeah! I said the bigger, the better. The more sequins, the better. If there’s feathers, stick them on! I want crazy hair, crazy makeup, things that I wouldn’t do in my normal day-to-day life. I want to squeeze as much out of this experience as I possibly can because you don’t know how long you’re going to be in for. I want to get more dramatic and more wild as the weeks go along.

What was it like meeting Torvill and Dean for the first time?

The first time I met them both, Chris actually did a lift with me on the ice and I thought at that moment my life had peaked! They were so lovely, so humble, down to earth and Chris was having a bit of banter with me. I think he knew that we could have a bit of fun which was nice. He was making comments and I was thinking, “He knows that I can take it. That’s why he’s saying it.” I feel like they have the same amount of time for everybody.

Will you be ok having to be critiqued by the judges every week?

I’m used to it because when you audition in musical theatre, you get more nos than you get a yes. The older I get, the more I have had to work on rejection and the fear of rejection because you could go into an audition and learn the songs and then basically they turn you away which is absolutely what happens half the time anyway. I feel like I’ll take it as constructive and it won’t touch a nerve as much.

Is there any particular judge that you want to impress the most?

I think Jayne, I love Jayne. She’s just such a sweetheart, isn’t she? And then Ashley Banjo. I feel like he’s going to be a hard one to impress. I need to crack him down, get him under my spell. I feel like I’ll be able to do that. I’ll be like, “Please, give me the highest score you can give me!” I don’t want them to be easy on me when they critique me, I want them to push me. I want them to be like,
“We know you’ve got more in there.” If I do a mediocre job, I want them to push me. Don’t go easy on me. I can take it!

Have you got a whole host of people that are going to come down on a Sunday night to support you?

Yes, my boyfriend will definitely be there. He’s my number one fan. He’s amazing. My mum will want to come but will want to watch through her hands! My dad will be there. My sister’s actually on tour with Wicked, so it might be difficult to get her down. And my nana. I’ve got to get my nana, she’s got to experience that.

Have you thought about how far you might get in the competition?

A couple of people have asked me this and I just think I’m taking every week as it comes because you just don’t know because it’s a public vote. You have no idea, do you? I’m going to push myself as hard as I can. I’d absolutely love to get to the end so I could do the Boléro. I’d love that more than anything but your fate’s in the public’s hands, really.

The greatest show on ice makes its big return to ITV and ITVX, as Holly Willoughby and Stephen Mulhern join forces to take the helm on the high octane skating show.

Twelve celebrities compete to become champion of the rink with the help of some of the world’s greatest professionals.

Skating legends Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean head up our ice panel alongside dance supremos, Ashley Banjo and Oti Mabuse.