Olympic medallist Colin Jackson swaps hurdles for ice skates in a one-off special episode of Dancing On Ice, competing against fellow Olympians... Why did you want to take part in the show? "Obviously after doing Strictly Come Dancing I thought it would be nice to have a go at something brand-spanking new and also finding out that so many other friends were taking part, I thought well I've got to have a go." Did doing Strictly prepare you for this? "On the choreography side yes, otherwise it's possibly the hardest thing I've ever done. There's no jeopardy in Strictly, you just dance, but on Dancing on Ice there's the possibility of really hurting yourself." What was being mentored by Torvill and Dean like? "Excellent! They are possibly the best ice dancers ever so, with that in mind, it's a massive plus and anything they ask you to do, you truly know you can do it." Can you give us any hints about your routine? "I dance to an Earth, Wind and Fire number, which tells you what it's like, right? It's a little bit funky. I wore my fair share of sequins and Lycra on Strictly, so it was never going to be a problem for me to squeeze back into it, that's for sure. My outfit was actually less spangly on this than it was on Strictly!" How did you get on with your professional partner, Frankie Poultney? "She's an excellent teacher. She said if I ever did the main show she'd love to be my full-time skating partner." How do the judges compare to the Strictly panel? "They could be a little bit harder on us than they would be on Strictly. On Strictly, you could really do a nice performance and if it looks fantastic that's it; you get marked on the looks, but the technicalities of skating will always lose you points if you mess up." Dancing on Ice Goes Gold screens on ITV1 on Sunday, July 22.
