He has been impressing viewers and the judges on Dancing On Ice but things can still get slippery on the ice for Brendan Cole. The former Strictly Come Dancing star is in the final of the ITV skating competition alongside Regan Gascoigne and Kimberly Wyatt.
The trio and their professional skating partners will take to the rink this weekend to bid for the Dancing On 2022 final. Their performance will come two weeks after they found out they made it into the final - which saw Olympian Kye Whyte and The Vamps star Connor Ball miss out - after Dancing On Ice was ditched from the TV schedule last weekend to make way for coverage of Liverpool and Nottingham Forest's FA cup tie.
READ MORE: ITV Tipping Point viewers stunned as Fiz from Coronation Street 'appears' on game show
The three finalists will take to the ice for the last time on Sunday (March 27) - which is also Mother's Day - but only two of the couples will perform their version of Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean's iconic Bolero routine.
Brendan, Kimberly, and Regan all joined Ria Hebden, who was the first to exit the 2022 series earlier this year, on Lorraine Kelly's ITV show as she headed down to the Dancing On Ice set on Friday (March 25).
They appeared from the wings to join Ria, who is Lorraine's entertainment reporter, to chat about their final performances this weekend. "It's been a very exciting couple of weeks," Brendan said. "I think we're chuffed to make the final. Now that we're here, we're enjoying it."
Kimberly also added: "It's just been amazing. Leading up to the final you look back at all the skates you've done. I think we have a chance to put on the best final there has ever been."
After a happy chat with the trio, Ria went to wrap up the interview and mention how excited she was to be in the company of the future winner of Dancing On Ice 2022, Brendan started to move and suffered a wobble but managed to steady himself with a little help from his Pussycat Doll star competitor Kimberly.
"Careful now," Ria said reaching out her arms. "We don't want any accidents," she added as Kimberly and Regan laughed while pretending to fall and bouncing back up.
Ria will be back with the finalists on Sunday night when the likes of Happy Mondays star Bez, Love Island's Liberty Poole and Corrie icon Sally Dynevor will be putting their skates back on for the final show of the 2022 series.
And Brendan sparked a reaction on Thursday when the finalists joined Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield on This Morning ahead of them hosting the final this weekend.
It came as host Phillip touched upon the reports of viewers claiming that this year's show has been fixed. "Obviously there are thousands of conspiracy theorists, 'it's a fix, it's unfair' all of that sort of stuff, and no matter how many times you get people like Jayne and Chris saying, 'yeah you might be able to dance and that might give you a little bit more elegance but it's not taught you how to skate'," he said.
"You are all dancers but you're learning to skate for the first time. So, Regan has it helped having that dance background?" he then asked.
"I think we're so used to taking on routines, I think that does help but when it comes to the ice skating it is totally different," Regan replied. "There is a right and a wrong, like everything has to be in sequence and a step, but maybe I know how to hold my arms and stuff, but that's about it. It's a whole new ball game really."
Brendan then added: "It's been a really nice thing for all of us, we've pushed each other with our dancing abilities. When I see Regan and he does something really beautifully, it makes me want to be better, same with Kimberly, so I think that push between the three of us in particular has been good for us and good for the series."
"So yes it's a fix because we're all really good dancers!" Brendan then joked as Holly giggled before he added: "But no, trust me, it is very different on the ice."
