‘I'm still waiting for love on the ice'

Dancing On Ice star Matt Evers reflects on his 14-year career on the show and reveals which rival talent contest he’s got his heart set on

- BOBBY NORRIS

Pro-skater Matt Evers is a Dancing On Ice legend, having appeared since its first-ever series in 2006 when he was partnered with showbiz royalty Bonnie Langford. So when I catch up with my pal he tells me he couldn’t be more proud to have played such a big part in the hit show.

“It’s the perfect family entertainment show and always has been,” he says. “When I meet people on the street, they all say, ‘Thank you for what you do, because it’s an hour out of the week where the entire family sits down to watch something.’”

The 44-year-old American has been isolating in London, away from his home in Los Angeles, but has been keeping in touch with his family more than ever.

“I have a weekly FaceTime session with my friends down at the beach in LA,” he says. “It’s nice that through all of this I have communicated with my family a lot more than I typically would. There are some silver linings.”

Here, Matt reflects on his Dancing On Ice career, the trolling he’s received and making history as part of the first-ever same-sex partnering on a UK dance show…

Hi Matt! So are plans for the next series of Dancing On Ice on hold?

At the minute the series is still full steam ahead. ITV is planning on it being on at the same time. What has been really nice about this situation is that all of the channels are working together. They’ve written new guidelines for production, keeping social distancing in mind and making sure there aren’t mass gatherings with audiences. So the likes of Strictly and Dancing On Ice may not have live audiences. But ITV is adamant it still wants to create entertainment because as humans we need it.

We so do! Do you always want to win the show?