Brendan Cole has said Dancing On Ice fans will not see the “young upstart” they saw on Strictly Come Dancing.
The professional dancer, who was known for his backchat on the BBC flagship show, has said he will listen and “take on” the judges’ comments in the skating series.
“I have no interest in answering back any of the judges on this particular show, I am coming in as a novice,” he said.
“I am going to be listening, I will be taking on their critiques and trying to improve for the next week.
“You won’t see the young upstart that you saw on Strictly, you will see the respectful old senile.”
Cole was a professional on Strictly Come Dancing for 15 years and has since appeared as a judge on New Zealand’s Dancing With The Stars and as a guest judge on Britain’s Next Top Model.
The 45-year-old, and his professional skating partner Vanessa Bauer, will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of ex-Strictly dancer and Dancing On Ice 2019 champion James Jordan.
Speaking about his experience potentially giving him a head start on the ITV skating show, Cole said: “I am used to performing on a live Saturday and Sunday night television show.
“Being a dancer I pick up choreography without thinking about it too much, whereas I am sure if you’re new to learning choreography it might take a bit longer.
“It is still a very, very different discipline and I think that is the beauty of the show. You’re going to see people at different stages and, like on Strictly, you get some fantastic dancers on there – where they start to where they finish is what’s important.
“There are three or four of us who have danced in the past. Yes, it might give a small advantage in some areas, but in some areas I am having to unlearn a lot of things and I am getting told off quite a lot for doing things that I shouldn’t be doing.”
Cole features in a star-studded line-up alongside names such as Love Island’s Liberty Poole, Coronation Street’s Sally Dynevor and Happy Mondays dancer Bez.
Talking about his training and the first live performance, Cole said: “It is not as easy as I thought it was going to be, especially in those first few weeks.
“I was a bit concerned because I did get a lot of expectation in the feedback, with people saying ‘You’re a dancer, this is going to be easy’ – but it was far from easy in those first few weeks.
“Even me after doing 15 years on Strictly, the excitement about getting to Sunday, I am a little bit nervous about it just for the fact that it is an unknown situation… as I speak about it I can feel my heart rate going.”
– Dancing On Ice launches on ITV on Sunday January 16 at 6.30pm.
