Dancing On Ice’s Graham Bell admits there will be competition between him and Colin Jackson

Graham Bell has revealed there will ‘definitely’ be competition between himself and fellow Olympian Colin Jackson on the upcoming series of Dancing On Ice.

The skier, 54, is one of the celebrities taking part and told MailOnline his wife Sarah is already nervous for him in case he injures himself when he takes to the ice.

Asked about facing off against Olympic hurdler Colin, 53, Graham said: ‘I know Colin. We were both Olympic athletes and I met him back then. 

‘I met him again when we did a Ski Sunday Masterclass and got a whole load of celebrities in. Colin was our most improved. He learned the most in the three hours.

‘He picked it up better than anyone. He is a delight to teach and has good special awareness. I know he is going to be really good. He’s also massively motivated.’

Graham and his wife Sarah are parents to Louis, 24, and Lottie, 21, and the sports star told how his other half is already worried for him.

He said: ‘My wife is nervous about the whole thing. She keeps saying: “Don’t fall, don’t fall.” My son is quite cool about it. 

‘My daughter was like, “Dad, whatever you do, don’t be yourself. Try and be someone that people will like!” he added, laughing. 

‘I’ve taken a few slams in my time. The main thing is knowing how to fall. You have to take the impact. If you’re falling, it’s best to just go with the fall rather tan trying to put your hand down to break the impact.’

Graham told how Dancing On Ice will be a whole new world for him and could prove just as big of a challenge as when he set the world record for the fastest person towed on skis by a vehicle. 

He said: ‘I’ve done some pretty crazy things in the past. I’ve run desert marathons, I’ve sailed from Liverpool to Uruguay, I’ve done some pretty difficult and dangerous things so this is just another one to add to the long list. 

‘This is more out of my comfort zone in terms of the dancing and the performance side of things. 

‘I will be more nervous doing Dancing On Ice than I was when I was strapped to the back of that car at 100 miles an hour. You get nervous being out of your comfort zone.’

Graham is also looking forward to the sequinned outfits contestants have to wear, joking that he wants to ‘go full Blades of Glory’ on the ice.

Along with Colin, the skier reckons Denise Van Outen, who has a background in dance, and Emmerdale’s Joe-Warren Plant, who is the youngest contestant at 18, could also prove to be serious competition.   

Although he found great success as a skier, Graham doesn’t think it will give him much of an advantage on the show. 

He said: ‘The technique is different, skating to skiing. I have skated in the past, it’s one of those sports that you do. If there’s a rink, you go skating! 

‘If I did get a chance to go, I’d be playing ice hockey, I would never have decided to go figure skating. That’s a whole other thing. It’s supposed to be graceful and it’s supposed to have style. I don’t have that training or ability.’

Graham reckons the female professionals on the show have the hardest gig as they have to trust their amateur partners will be able to pick them up and perform intricate moves with not much training.  

He said: ‘If you’re a female pro, that’s definitely the short straw in this gig because you’re trusting an amateur. 

‘Even if you’ve had two months of training, we’re still an amateur. They’re lifting you above your head and spinning you around. It’s the trust and building up the trust.’ 

Dancing On Ice returns to ITV In January 2021.