Dancing On Ice professional Vanessa Bauer has broken her silence on her feud with Megan Barton Hanson.
The skater became embroiled in a public spat with her celebrity partner Wes Nelson’s then-girlfriend last month, after the Love Island star accused her of ignoring her and also strategically timing the announcement of her split from her boyfriend to generate headlines.
Addressing the row directly for the first time, Vanessa insisted she had acted professionally, and even claimed she would like to meet Megan
“I have acted very professional [but] I honestly don’t know her, I bet she’s a lovely girl,” she told The Sun.
“I would love to meet her. She would be welcome to any of our training sessions but I never got the chance to meet her.”
Asked if she wished events had turned out differently, Vanessa responded: “I’m doing the show, and I’m doing my job.
“I’m being a professional figure skater, that’s what I’ve worked for my entire life.
“I’m on the biggest skating show I could work on so I am just happy about that.”
Vanessa’s diplomatic response came after Megan reopened their feud after splitting from Wes last month.
While she had claimed to have reached out to Vanessa to make peace, Megan later said she stood by her original comments.
She told OK! magazine: “I stick by my guns that Vanessa knew what she was doing posting [about her break-up] when she did,” she insisted. “It was completely tactical.”
Meanwhile, Megan has said she is in therapy after her split from Wes, after previously admitting she was struggling to cope with the “endless trolling” she had received on social media.
She told MailOnline: “I need to make sure I’m in a good place. I’ve gone back to therapy. I’m doing (cognitive behavioural) CBT therapy, that’s a way they teach you to rationalised your thoughts and keep going over things.”
Megan also believes the five-year age difference between her and Wes, 20, was a factor in their break-up.
She said: “Our priorities are very different. It’s a shame because if I was five years younger or he was five years older we would be perfect.
“We have the exact same humour, we are so similar in so many ways but it just didn’t work out. No hard feelings, I hope we can be friends.”