© Photo: BBCNow that Strictly Come Dancing is well and truly over and finished for another year (bring on the 2019 series!), we're starting to get seriously hyped for what is about to become our next obsession, Dancing on Ice! With Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield reuniting for the first time since Holly's stint on I'm a Celebrity to host and with a brilliant line-up of celebrities ready to skate their socks off, it looks like this one might be the best series yet! Scroll through our gallery to for a first look at the fabulous new ice skating couples who will be dancing in the opening show on 6 January 2019...
Gemma Collins & Matt Evers
How amazing does the GC look?! Gemma has been training hard ahead of the opening show, and revealed all about who her biggest supporters will be, explaining: "All the curvy dolls out there! I'm doing this show to show all the ladies out there that it doesn't matter what size you are or who you are, you can achieve anything and that's important for me. I’m doing it for all the women out there." She continued: "It's never too late to have fun and it’s never too late to try something you haven’t done before and for any women out there to think, 'Well I'm too big or overweight to be a skater,' [that] it's never too late."
© Photo: BBCDidi Conn & Lukasz Rozycki
While Didi certainly looks the part with her professional ice skating partner, Lukasz, the Grease actress admitted that she has struggled with her fear of water while training for the show. She said: "My biggest fear is water. It is nice when it’s warm water and you take a bath. And then there's water that turns to ice, which is very cold and very hard. That’s what I have been trying to make friends with – the ice. I've taken some spectacular falls and then got back up and started again. My biggest challenge is to enjoy the ice, and to feel it, and to use it to do who knows. I've never really skated before."
© Photo: BBCJames Jordan & Alexandra Schauman
James looks ready to take to the ice with his professional partner, Alexandra! Addressing the controversy surrounding his signing for the show, as fans felt that he might have an unfair advantage as a Strictly Come Dancing pro, James said: "I think I’ve probably got an advantage over people, where I can maybe sell a performance…as long as I’m still standing up right! [...] This is something totally different. I do have some advantages for sure, I understand that but I can’t ice skate. We’re all starting pretty much from the same place. I’m not going to be one of these people that says it doesn’t make a difference that I’m a dancer because of course it does. At the end of the day, it is very different if you’re lifting someone and your feet are planted on the floor to when you’re lifting someone and you’re on ice skates. The fear must be horrendous because it’s bad enough when my feet are on the floor, let alone when I can’t stand up myself!"
© Photo: BBCMark Little & Brianne Delcourt
Mark might look ready for anything in his burgundy suit, but the actor has revealed his one biggest fear about appearing on the show - injuring his partner, Brianne! He said: "My biggest fear, honestly, is the safety of my partner. I’m not fearful of it but I’m concerned that I look after my skate partner and don’t hurt them. I might have to lift but the women have to be lifted and I think being lifted is scarier than lifting. Saying that, I won’t be lifting until I’m totally sure I won’t drop anyone!"
© Photo: BBCJane Danson & Sylvain Longchambon
Jane looks fabulous in a navy blue spangled outfit with her partner, Sylvain. The Corrie star has followed a long line of other soap stars to take part in the series over the years, and revealed that this is one of the reasons she took the gig, particularly thanks to Samia Ghadie, who took part in the 2013 series. Jane said: "Samia... had an amazing experience and she is one of my dearest friends. She just said, 'You’ll come out of it feeling so good about yourself.' When you've been in the same job for a long time you get kind of cosy, and you know it so well and you know your environment, but this is completely ripping me out of that world and putting me in to a world that is completely alien to me."
© Photo: BBCSaara Aalto & Hamish Gaman
Saara knows the ropes of reality TV thanks to her stint on The X Factor, and revealed that like the singing competition, she at least wants to be the runner-up on Dancing on Ice. She joked: "In my history, I’ve always come 2nd in TV competitions. So, I have to do it again, I have to be here until the end. I’m not going to give up!"
