British singer, TV presenter, pianist, and model Myleene Klass will be competing in week two of the 2021 series of Dancing on Ice, alongside skating professional Lukasz Różycki.
We caught up with Myleene to find out how she's feeling about taking to the ice...
What’s the biggest appeal of doing the show?
"I have a 13-year-old daughter and a 9-year-old daughter that are obsessed with ice skating. Both of my daughters ice skate and I don’t want to be the one that just gets dragged around the ice at Christmas."
You’re going to be the coolest mum ever come next Christmas...
"Well, I think anyone will appreciate that you spend the first early years of their lives teaching them how to use a knife and fork and then there comes to be a time when you’re like hang on, I don’t want to be the one who gets left behind."
So, they both actually skate?
"Yeah, they both skate. I did want that for them. We live really close to an ice rink so I wanted that for them but then I stand there and I hold the coats. That’s my role – to tie the shoe laces and hold the coats. So, I don’t skate at all."
They’re going to be super proud you’re doing this....
"They’re so excited. They’re over the moon, so excited. Every day is the same question – when can I tell my friends? So, I think it’s been such a duff year, a rubbish year so to have that positivity for them to look forward to. That excitement is everything. 2020 has been a case of batten down the hatches and try get through to the next month. There’s no sparkle for anybody at the moment. My girls are more aware of what I do now and they saw me going in and out of radio all the way through Covid and they worried for me. I just thought how lovely for them to see me doing something they can get excited about. Ava’s like ‘we’ll come down, we’ll help you!’"
It’s a really positive way to start 2021 after 2020...
"When else would I get this chance? I’m a mum of three, a step-mum of two, there’s seven of us in our blended family. When else would a mum like me get the chance to learn a new skill. And I spent all of lockdown teaching children and teaching my music classes that went viral and now it’s time for me to learn a new skill and be able to walk away with a bum like J-Lo’s! That’s the real reason I’m here! I am going to work so hard!"
There’s lots of positive things to look forward to but do you have any fears about doing the show?
"Oh, I’m terrified of all of it! I’m terrified of my piano fingers getting rolled over. I don’t know why that’s a recurring fear but it just is. I think any time I’ve done a concert I’ve had to sign an indemnity insurance clause and I’ve had to sign all of these things that look after my fingers and now I’m actually in the line of fire I feel like I’m really going to have to look after my fingers. By the nature of what it is I feel quite protective over my fingers. As a pianist I have to look after my fingers but I also have to life my life and I love the fact that I’m going to walk away with a new skill, new butt and fabulous wardrobe!"
Second to this, what’s the scariest thing you’ve ever done?
"I did the jungle and I remember when they asked me what my fear was I said dying. I thought if I say rats or spiders or snakes they’re going to land those on my head but it turned out they locked me in a coffin anyway so I’ve done that!"
How competitive are you feeling? Are you in it to win it?
"I’m in it because I want to be able to stop! I want to be able to do that move where you spin and stop and spray the ice. I’m that person where when I’m on the ice I will hold on to you, I will hold onto the sides, I will hold onto passing kids, I can’t stop. That’s not to say I can’t go fast, I just can’t stop!"
How do you think you’ll feel about receiving feedback from the panel, positive or negative?
"I think I feel like if it was something I could do I would feel like I’d have a right to reply but I don’t feel like I’ve got that so I’m just going to get on board. I haven’t got a clue what I’m doing, this is completely new territory and when they say do something that scares you every single day – well, this terrifies me! But I make sure my children do things that scare them every single day, I push them to discover new challenges, to discover new talents and you can’t discover anything until you put yourself in a situation so I’m going to lead by example on that and give it a good go. And they’re just so excited because they’ve never seen me do something new like this and when I first had the conversation with my manager she just said why don’t you do something that you don’t know you can do, why don’t you challenge yourself. And then I said I’m SCARED! So, that’s why I feel I should. I mean I am so out of my comfort zone. I never even holiday in the cold, I like the heat. If there’s no palm trees I’m not interested! And there are no palm trees on this ice rink. I’m not Elsa, I’m Moana."
If you had to describe your strengths and weaknesses to your professional skating partner, what would those be?
"I’m all about the costumes, I’m all about the music and I thought I was all about being thrown about in the air until Ava, who does cheerleading, said ‘no, to be able to get up into the air the strength has got to come from you.’ I want to just try stunts!"
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