Reality TV legend Ferne McCann has been confirmed as the first celebrity contestant for Dancing On Ice 2024.
Revealing the news on Monday’s episode of GMB, the mother-of-two shared: ‘I’m so excited, it’s going to be a huge challenge but I’m excited for the glitz and glamour of the show.’
Asked if she can skate, she confessed: ‘Kind of… I’ve done Winter Wonderland and stuff like that with the children but you know the penguins? I’m hunched over one of those!’
Ferne shot to fame in 2013 when she joined the cast of The Only Way Is Essex for its ninth series.
She has since appeared on Celebs Go Dating and I’m A Celebrity, finishing the latter in third place.
Reality TV legend Ferne McCann has been confirmed as the first celebrity contestant for Dancing On Ice 2024
Ferne shot to fame in 2013 when she joined the cast of The Only Way Is Essex (pictured, left, with Billie Faiers, Bobby Norris and Gemma Collins in 2014)
Most recently she has starred in her own ITV show, My Family And Me, but earlier this month she confirmed the next series of her long-running reality series will be her last.
The show, which started life as Ferne McCann: First Time Mum and initially followed her pregnancy and raising her firstborn Sunday, has run for 13 series and 7 years.
The show was retitled in 2023 when Ferne welcomed her second daughter Finty.
But now she is ready to pull the plug after making the ‘difficult decision’ with businessman fiancé Lorri Haines and six-year old daughter Sunday, her child with former partner Arthur Collins.
She told The Sunday Mirror: ‘The point where everything changed was when Sunday actually said to me: ‘Am I famous?’ A few of her friends had seen her on an advert.
‘And I was like: ‘Oh I don’t know…’ It made me feel uncomfortable, because I don’t want her to feel she is different…
‘After that it felt like a whole different ball game, so I went away and worked out what I was feeling, and it felt like the right time to stop.’
She added that although Sunday has been on the show since she was born, she’d ‘never really’ watched it and was ‘unaware’ of the situation – until that question.
In March it was revealed Holly Willoughby has been offered a lucrative deal by ITV bosses to return to host Dancing On Ice next year in a bid to keep her at the channel.
Revealing the news on Monday’s episode of GMB , the mother-of-two shared: ‘I’m so excited, it’s going to be a huge challenge but I’m excited for the glitz and glamour of the show’
Earlier this month Ferne confirmed the next series of her long-running reality series, My Family & Me, will be her last (pictured on the show with fiancé Lorri Haines and daughters Sunday, six, and Finty, 14 months)
For the first time in 20 years the presenter will not be contracted for a show on the channel, leaving the door open for their rivals to swoop in and hire her.
But The Mail on Sunday revealed that the programme will be back for another season, and that they are already in talks with Holly about her anchoring it alongside Stephen Mulhern in a clear sign to other broadcasters to keep their hands off of their star.
A source close to the show said: ‘Dancing On Ice is definitely coming back in 2025 and the plan is that Holly will host it.
‘Contracts are being negotiated but the chiefs love her and they know that there are others who would love to sign her up but ITV love her and they want to keep her very much part of the ITV furniture for years to come.
‘Holly has a real fondness for the show, it really catapulted her career from a children’s presenter into grown up television so ITV very much hope that she will agree to the deal.’
Sources say that the upper echelons of ITV are also looking at other big shows that she can present after she quit This Morning after 14 years last October following a plot to kidnap and murder her as the BBC are said to be determined to hire her to host more of their programmes.
Meanwhile, skate experts Jane Torvill and Christopher Dean are said to be ‘super keen’ for the show to return because their tour to celebrate 50 years of skating together will start shortly after next year’s series ends.
A friend of the Olympic champions said: ‘Dancing On Ice will nicely segway into their tour so they are really keen to return next year. It all falls perfectly into place for them.’
In March it was revealed Holly Willoughby has been offered a lucrative deal by ITV bosses to return to host Dancing On Ice next year in a bid to keep her at the channel
Hours before Ferne’s announcement it was alleged an iconic EastEnders star has also signed up for Dancing On Ice.
Charlie Brooks – who is known for her villain role in EastEnders as well as winning I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! in 2012 – is rumoured to be joining the star-studded line-up for the upcoming instalment.
The actress, 43, is well-remembered for her epic portrayal of villain Janine Butcher in the hit BBC soap from 1999 to 2022.
She eventually said goodbye to Albert Square during EastEnders’ Christmas Day special two years ago.
And now, it seems the soap favourite might take on the icy challenge alongside other fellow celebrities for the beloved skating show.
A source told The Sun: ‘Charlie’s a brilliant signing. She has a huge fanbase from EastEnders and has tons of personality and feisty energy. The ITV bookers hope she can recreate some of her on-screen I’m a Celeb magic.
‘They are making the most of the fact many female stars have avoided Strictly this year amid all the scandal. It’s going to be a belting line-up.’
Charlie Brooks – who is known for her role as Janine Butcher in EastEnders – is also rumoured to be taking part in the upcoming series of Dancing On Ice
The actress is well-remembered for her epic portrayal of villain Janine in the hit BBC soap from 1999 to 2022
DANCING ON ICE 2024: MEET THE CONTESTANTS
FERNE MCCANN
AGE: 34
PROFESSION: Reality TV star
WHAT DID THEY SAY?: ‘I’m so excited, it’s going to be a huge challenge but I’m excited for the glitz and glamour of the show.’
