Matt Richardson will be making his Dancing On Ice debut this weekend after being drafted in last minute to replace Rufus Hound, who has sadly been forced to withdraw from the show after testing positive for coronavirus.
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Partnered with professional skater Vicky Ogden, the duo will hit the ice with a routine set to Somebody Told Me by The Killers for their first performance.
But who is Matt Richardson, and what do we know about his life, relationships, and Dancing On Ice journey? Keep reading for everything you need to know...
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Matt Richardson's career
Matt Richardson is a 29-year-old comedian and presenter. Originally from Oxfordshire, the Dancing on Ice contestant first rose to fame when he replaced Olly Murs as co-presenter of the ITV2 spin-off show The Xtra Factor with the late Caroline Flack back in 2013.
Matt will be taking to the ice for the first time this weekend
He is also known for his appearances on the panel shows Big Brother's Bit on the Side and Viral Tap. More recently, he launched the podcast No One's Watching alongside Matt Willis. Recent guests have included Jamie Laing, Tom Fletcher, and Iain Stirling.
Matt Richardson's love life
Matt Richardson is currently dating Sam Rollinson, a model who hails from Doncaster. The couple live together in London and even share a cute cat named Achilles.
Matt and girlfriend Sam have been together since 2015
Last year Matt and Sam celebrated their five year anniversary together. To mark the occasion, Matt took to Instagram to share a sweet snap of the two of them alongside the caption: "Five years with this silly legend. Let's see if we can manage five days in isolation next."
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Opening up about their relationship to The Sun, Matt said: "Sam is mega-famous, but I'm not in that world so it's just dead normal really. She's amazing. She's the best human being I've ever met. She's super-northern and down to earth."
Matt Richardson on Dancing on Ice
Matt Richardson is partnered with professional skater Vicky Ogden and will join the show in week four of the competition following Golden Ticket winner Rufus Hound's exit.
Rufus announced in a video posted on his Twitter account that he has sadly had to withdraw from the competition this week after testing positive for COVID-19. He had already missed two weeks of the competition after coming into contact with someone who was carrying the virus and having to self-isolate.
Rufus shared the news of his exit on Twitter
Appearing on Lorraine ahead of his first show, Matt revealed that he has been in training for the show since late last year, in case one of the celebrities dropped out.
"I have done exactly the same amount of training as everyone else, I was just doing it off-camera and not doing the show on a Sunday so I started in October, five days a week since then," he said. He added that it "was a bit of a surprise" when he got the call from ITV bosses, as he was nearly at the end of his stint of being a stand-in.
Rufus is not the first star who has had to pull out of the show, with Denise Van Outen, 46, who was skating with pro Matt Evers, 44, leaving after dislocating her shoulder. She was replaced by gymnast Amy Tinkler, 21, who took to the ice with pro Joe Johnson last Sunday and made quite the impression on judges.
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