Dancing on Ice: Ekin-Su admits childhood skating skills 'did not come back' for 2023 series

Virgin Radio

19 Jan 2023, 16:06

Dancing on Ice star Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu might have some skating experience, but the Love Island winner admitted it hasn’t been helpful when it comes to being in the rink. 

Unfortunately for the reality star, she and pro-partner Brendyn Hatfield landed midway through the leaderboard during their first skate on Sunday night (15th January), and she didn’t gather enough public votes, which meant she was the first celeb to land in the skate-off.

It turns out Ekin-Su isn’t a complete stranger to the rink, having skated as a child, even performing in shows before moving on to ballet. 

Despite this, Ekin-Su confessed to virginradio.co.uk and other press that her knowledge of skating has pretty much slipped out of her memory. 

When asked if her skating experience has helped with rehearsals, Ekin-Su said: “They did not come back to me! The first time I was on the ice I was like, ‘wait, which leg do I move first? Left or right?’ Literally I was like, where's the penguin? Yeah it's crazy.”

Now she’s free from the Love Island villa, competing on Dancing on Ice and in charge of a clothing line, Ekin-Su admitted it can be tough juggling normal life with life on the ice. 

She explained: “You've got to think about [the fact] you’ve got a relationship, you've got other jobs, you've got your brand deals. These are all things that you need to give your energy to. If you're giving your energy here as well, it is hard to balance them all.

"Sometimes I might be giving my energy here, but then I might have less energy for my boyfriend. It's not that we do it deliberately, it's just human, that's how we are. So it is hard in that element where we are quite busy. And this takes up the majority of your time every day, three hours, two hours a day training nonstop.”

Ekin-Su will face off against another celeb skater in part two of the series opener, with The Vivienne, Darren Harriott, Carley Stenson, Mollie Gallagher and John Fashanu ready to hit the ice for the first time. 

Their first skating routines have now been revealed, with comedian Darron skating to Fireball by Pitbull with partner Tippy Packard. 

Former Hollyoaks star Carley and pro partner Mark Hanretty will perform their first routine to Say You Love Me by Jessie Ware, while Coronation Street’s Mollie and Sylvain Longchambon will skate to Angel Eyes by ABBA. 

Footballer John and Alexandra Schauman will lace up their skates and dance to Eat My Goal by Collapsed Lung, while RuPaul’s Drag Race UK winner The Vivienne and Colin Grafton will perform to Strong Enough by Cher. 

Dancing On Ice continues on Sunday nights on ITV and ITX at 6:30pm.