Former Strictly Come Dancing star Brendan Cole has insisted his “young upstart” days are behind him as he prepares to make his debut on Dancing On Ice.
Brendan was one of the original Strictly’s original professional performers, winning the very first series alongside celebrity partner Natasha Kaplinsky.
During his time with the show, he became known for his occasional backchat to the Strictly judges when he didn’t agree with their critiques, which notably rubbed Head Judge Shirley Ballas up the wrong way when she was still new to the show.
In early 2018, it was announced that the New Zealand-born dancer’s Strictly contract had not been renewed, and he’s now one of 14 stars who’ve signed up to compete on the new series of Dancing On Ice.
Revealing he’s turned over a new leaf, Brendan told the PA news agency: “I have no interest in answering back any of the judges on this particular show, I am coming in as a novice.”
He continued: “I am going to be listening, I will be taking on their critiques and trying to improve for the next week.
“You won’t see the young upstart that you saw on Strictly, you will see the respectful old senile.”
That’s probably for the best, as joining the Dancing On Ice panel this year is none other than his former Strictly colleague Oti Mabuse.
“I think Oti is going to be absolutely amazing,” Brendan told the press ahead of his skating debut. “She’s a phenomenal person on and off the dance floor. She has great dance experience which she will bring to the show.”
He added: “I think that she’s going to make an incredible judge. Her personality is larger than life. And she’s a great friend of mine. So I’m really excited for her.
“And likewise, she’s excited for me, the various conversations we’ve had about this since it’s all been announced, it’s really exciting.”
On whether his dance background puts him at an advantage, Brendan said: “Being a dancer I pick up choreography without thinking about it too much, whereas I am sure if you’re new to learning choreography it might take a bit longer.
“It is still a very, very different discipline and I think that is the beauty of the show. You’re going to see people at different stages and, like on Strictly, you get some fantastic dancers on there – where they start to where they finish is what’s important.
“There are three or four of us who have danced in the past. Yes, it might give a small advantage in some areas, but in some areas I am having to unlearn a lot of things and I am getting told off quite a lot for doing things that I shouldn’t be doing.”
Dancing On Ice returns on Sunday night at 6.30pm on ITV.