Coronation Street actress Sally Dynevor has opened up about the huge mental challenge of competing in Dancing On Ice.
The 58-year-old star, who has been partnered with pro skater Matt Evers, performed in the opening show of the new series of the hit ITV reality show, and admits she “never had nerves like it before.”
She’ll be back on the ice this Sunday for routine number two.
Speaking about how the process is going so far, Sally reveals, “It’s a massive journey, starting off with having the confidence to sign the paper to the first day on the ice and realising how difficult it is.
“You get quite emotional because you think ‘I could make a complete fool of myself and how am I going to feel about that?’
“I’m really putting myself out there and I’ve never done that before. Everyone knows me as Sally Webster / Metcalfe and nobody knows Sally Dynevor, and here I am doing something that’s completely alien to me. It’s really hard!”
She adds, “I’m learning so much about myself. I’ve got to stop beating myself up - which is what I do all the time - and appreciate that I’m doing okay.
“It doesn’t matter if I mess it up, as long as I’m just giving it a go. I hope women of my age will say, ‘Well, she’s giving it a go, she’s trying her best!’”
Dynevor was asked to take part in Dancing On Ice numerous times in the past but declined the opportunity.
Asked if her refusals were due to a fear of falling over on national telly, perhaps, or doing herself a serious injury, she explains, “All of the above, the first year I said ‘no!’
“And then the following year, I went to Everest Base Camp with Prevent Breast Cancer (the charity that Sally is a patron of) so the timing wasn’t right, and last year, with COVID, it would’ve been difficult for me to go backward and forwards from Corrie and have two cohorts, so we decided I’d do it this year.”
She admits that lockdown was a major factor in finally putting her name on the dotted line.
“Lockdown played a massive part,” she says. “So many people got ill and lost their lives. I realised life was too short and you’ve got to take up all the opportunities that come your way.
"I’d be crazy to turn down an opportunity to skate with the best people in the world, just because I was scared. And what would that be teaching my children? Don’t do something because it’s a little bit scary?
“I’ve got to take every opportunity I can possibly get. I’m 59 this year, I have to go for it!”
Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 7.30pm and 8.30pm on ITV - see our TV Guide for full listings. You can also catch up on episodes on ITV Hub now.
Dancing on Ice returns to ITV on Sunday at 6pm.
