Dancing On Ice 2022 contestant and TV presenter Ria Hebden has spoken about the traumatic injury she suffered in the past that made her scared to sign up to the show.
Ria scored an impressive 24.5 points by the judging panel for her first performance on the ice last week with her professional partner Łukasz Różycki.
But, despite dazzling the nation and the judges, she ended up in the bottom two alongside Coronation Street star Sally Dynevor and is now due to face the dreaded skate-off this Sunday.
Talking to Metro.co.uk ahead of week two, she opened up that she had to overcome a fear when she first started learning how to skate, after experiencing a gruesome injury a few years back.
Touching on what she was most scared of taking part in the competition, Ria revealed that: “For me, it’s skating forwards at speed just because I slipped on a wet floor years ago, headfirst on concrete and it was honestly like the most awful thing.
“I ended up splitting my lip having to have 12 stitches having root canal surgery on my two front teeth. So you know, the trauma of that I know how painful it is to fall flat on your face on the concrete.”
She went on to say that the coaches were really supportive of her being honest and showed her “how to fall safely” to help her overcome her fears of falling.
“So when I first started learning how to skate, I was really honest with the coaches about that fear, and I think that was the best approach because then they were able to support me in feeling safe.
“What’s just been really interesting about this, is they were always very honest from the beginning, saying, ‘Look, you will fall so let’s teach you how to fall safely, so you don’t fear it.’"
Despite the disappointing news of her ending up in the skate-off, Ria is raring to go and perform her next routine, posting a video montage on Instagram of her first routine and rehearsing on the ice with the caption: "We didn't come this far to only come this far! Lukasz and I are so looking forward to showing you our next skate this Sunday on @dancingonice on @itv Thanks for all your love & support on our skating journey! See you on the telly from 6.30pm ⛸❄💫"
Dancing on Ice continues next Sunday at 6:30pm on ITV and ITV Hub— see our TV Guide for full listings.
