Dancing On Ice star Joe Swash has said the large bandage he has to wear after injuring his ear has been a source of amusement for his friends, family and colleagues.
The TV star, who will skate in the final of the ITV show along with Perri Kiely and Libby Clegg, said he would have liked a bit more sympathy after his ear was caught by his partner Alex Murphy’s skate as they rehearsed a roly poly move on the ice earlier this week.
His ear swelled up and needed to be drained at hospital, and he must now wear the bandage around his head until Sunday’s final.
Swash’s injury was revealed on Tuesday when his partner Stacey Solomon posted a video of him returning home from training with the dressing covering his ear and head, and in another post she said she was “crying with laughter” over it.
Speaking ahead of the final, Swash said: “I’ve knocked the ear and it’s like a cauliflower ear, it just got swollen and they had to drain it and cut it a little bit.
“But the bad thing is I’ve got to keep (the bandage) on until Sunday. I’m going to have to take it off for the show, but I’ve got to keep it on all week.
“I did say to them, ‘Is it not a little bit overkill?’ And they were like, ‘No, it’s the only way we can bandage an ear’.”
He joked: “I’d have loved to have had a bit of sympathy from people.
“I phoned up Alex and Dan Whiston (Dancing On Ice’s associate creative director) and they just laughed at me.
“My mum phoned me and made me go round the house just so she could see it and have a laugh.
“Then Stacey phoned me going, ‘Where are you?’ and then she did a whole build-up (on Instagram) saying, ‘I don’t know where Joe is’.
“And then I turned up and she had the camera straight in my face!”
Former EastEnders and I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! star Swash, 38, said he is still in pain due to an incision having to be made in the back of his ear.
He said: “When I started this process, the last thing I thought I was going to hurt was my ear.”
Professional skater Murphy said: “I’ve never had that injury happen, I’ve done these roly polys before and it’s never happened ever, with anyone, only with Joe.”
She added: “It wouldn’t be a final if something hadn’t gone wrong for us.”
Swash will face off against Paralympian Clegg and Diversity dancer Kiely in the final.
Kiely said he hopes he will be able to pull off a daring move in one of his routines in the final showdown.
The 24-year-old dancer said it is the most dangerous thing he has done, and added: “I don’t want to say what it is, but it’s something I’ve wanted to do from the very beginning.
“I knew I wouldn’t be able to put it in if I didn’t get far in the competition, because it needed lots of work.”
His skating partner Vanessa Bauer said: “I think it’s the most dangerous move on Dancing On Ice ever. It’s going to get into Dancing On Ice history.”
The Dancing On Ice final airs at 6pm on Sunday on ITV.
