Jane Danson kicked off the new series of Dancing On Ice with a dazzling routine that saw her tackle some tricky lifts and spins.
The Coronation Street actress and her professional partner Sylvain Longchambon impressed the audience, and the judges, with their first skate as the ITV programme got under way on Sunday.
The pair racked up 20.5 out of a possible 40 for the performance, and Danson said she was “absolutely thrilled”.
From wobbles on the cobbles to Danson on Ice… What an incredible first skate @RealJaneDanson and @slongchambon! #DancingOnIce pic.twitter.com/ptODEBMCIF
— Dancing On Ice (@dancingonice) January 6, 2019
Twelve new contestants are battling it out to win the ice show this year.
Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, Jason Gardiner and Diversity dancer Ashley Banjo are back as judges and Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield are once again presenting the action from the rink.
The opening episode also saw Grease actress Didi Conn, 67, take to the ice.
She won over the audience as she recreated her role as Frenchie from the 1978 film, even wearing her original Pink Ladies coat.
But her skating failed to charm Gardiner, who said she was “static and a little bit disjointed in places”.
Other contestants skating on Sunday included James Jordan, Saara Aalto, Mark Little and Gemma Collins, who posted a message on Instagram just a couple of hours before the show saying she had fallen in rehearsals.
The other remaining celebrity contestants will skate next week.
Dancing On Ice continues on ITV.
