The dancer will return to the ice for the new season of the ITV show tonight
The dancer will return to the ice for the new season of the ITV show tonight
Excitement is building ahead of the new season of Dancing On Ice. Holly Willoughby and Stephen Mulhern will welcome a new batch of celebrities for the latest edition of The Greatest Show on Ice on Sunday night.
The celebrities donning their skates this year will once again be judged by Jayne Torvill, Christopher Dean, Oti Mabuse and Ashley Banjo. Professional Vanessa Bauer is also returning for this season of the ITV show.
The 28-year-old joined the show in 2018 and was crowned winner alongside Jake Quickenden in her first season. Vanessa has finished in second place for almost every series since and will be hoping to go one further for the 2025 series.
The German dancer will be partnered alongside Love Island’s Chris Taylor on the latest season of the show. Chris heaped praise on his co-star as he said: “Vanessa has been skating since the age of four. Obviously, she’s unreal and only the best of the best get asked to do this type of show. Then we do it for two months and have to go on live telly. It’s just crazy to me that this show exists.”
Chris’ love life is often in the spotlight as he previously dated I’m A Celebrity’s Maura Higgins after they met on Love Island. He also appeared on the latest season of Celebs Go Dating, but admitted there hasn’t been any time for romance due to the gruelling Dancing On Ice training.
He said: “There’s no dating going on, there’s no time for it. This is just the main thing that I’ll focus on. I don’t know how to explain it. There is no time. Basically, when you finish training, you could just sleep on a park bench and be alright with it.”
In previous seasons, Vanessa has sparked romance rumours with her partners. She dated Joey Essex for nine months after they were paired up on the 2023 season.
She also set the record straight on her relationship with last year’s partner Miles Nazaire as they confirmed they were just good friends. Speaking on Lorraine to guest host Ranvir Singh, Made In Chelsea star Miles said: “For Vanessa and I we get it, of course there will be speculations of a romance.
“It’s nice but I also want to show how much work we are putting into this and we don’t want it to be taken away because they are saying ‘Oh it’s a new couple. We are together everyday hours and hours, and we have such an amazing friendship.’
“What’s she been teaching me is every routine has as a story. I understand why the public are going ‘Is there something?'” Vanessa agreed as she said building that chemistry is key to going far in the contest.
She said: “You need to have that bond in order to create routines like that. So I always said from the very beginning: just remember this is tough, you know. Dancing On Ice is a lot of pressure, but keep having fun.”
However, there will be no romance rumours for the latest season as Vanessa recently went public with her new boyfriend, James Rowe. The retired footballer played for Tranmere Rovers from 2013 – 2015 and enjoyed a trip to Lapland with Vanessa over the festive season.
Vanessa captioned the post: “Sending love this holiday. I’ve been emotional lately. A pull between feeling the happiest I’ve ever been but the moment I fly home for Christmas a different reality kicks in.
“I believe that the pulls between my upbringing, our families’ loss and the beautiful life I get to live now is not a burden but in a way it can be seen as a blessing. And I certainly am grateful for my family and the 25 years I got to know my dad.“Perspective has created the person I am now, to keep me grounded, driven, to know life in its many different ways and remain resilient. Gratitude is an understatement and I’ll retain the discipline to keep growing my luck. Anything is possible and love and magic truly is everywhere.” Dancing On Ice starts tonight at 6.30pm on ITV and ITVX
