Joey Essex says he has a deep level of care for his Dancing On Ice partner Vanessa Baeur amid rumours of a romance between the pair.
The former Only Way Is Essex star is taking to the ice this weekend for the ITV skating show, where he will perform a full routine for the first time in front of a live audience and millions tuning in from home. Joey has been partnered with Vanessa Baeur, with romance rumours swirling around the pair after they attended an event together.
In a first look ahead of the show, a cheeky Joey even asked for her number. Whilst the pair have avoided questions bout the possibility of a romance, Joey did admit he cared a lot about Vanessa and that she was a "lovely girl".
Speaking to The Mirror and other press, he said: "At the start of the journey, I was like oh my gosh I don't want to drop you but now it's just like whatever let's do it, let's take risks! Obviously I care about Vanessa because she's a lovely girl.
"I don't want to drop her, but she's so used to being dropped. Nile's a gymnast so he knows how to fall and I know how to fall now. I got some injuries at the start but you learn how to fall and you learn how to be dropped."
However, he did confess she was very strict with her training, adding: "Oh yeah she's definitely whipping me! She is beyond strict, but I love it but I wanted someone who is strict and put me in my place."
Joey explained he was ready for the show to bring some structure into his life.
Asked why he decided to sign up for Dancing On Ice, he said: "I think the reason I’ve decided to do this is it’s going to bring a nice bit of structure into my life. I also like competition and I’m very competitive.
"For me, this is very exciting. Taking part in Dancing on Ice now is the right time for me. If you spoke to Joey Essex at 23 and 24, I could have said ‘yes’ to it but I probably wouldn’t have put 100% into it. I feel like doing something like this, I’m very ready for it."
Joey thinks he might be going a little "overboard" with his routines, but he likes the danger.
"I’ve watched snippets. I really go hard so I’m one of those people that if I’m doing something, I’ll take big risks. I want to excite people. I’ll really push myself and put 150% into this," he added.
"I’ll go overboard which is quite dangerous really because you don’t know whether you’re going to mess it up. I’m no professional athlete but when I’m doing something, I like to consider myself as professional as possible."
He admitted: "Potentially, I could do something quite ridiculous and fall over."
*Dancing on Ice starts Sunday 15th January at 6:30pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
