Claire Sweeney said she wanted to battle the “vulnerabilities and anxieties” that came with menopause by signing up for Dancing On Ice.
The former Brookside star, 52, will join famous faces including Olympian Eddie “The Eagle” Edwards, singer Hannah Spearritt, West End star Amber Davies and Olympian Greg Rutherford when the show returns to ITV next year.
She told Prima magazine she “wanted to challenge” herself by appearing on the show. However, training has not been without difficulty and Claire admitted she took a tumble in front of judges Jane Torvill and Christopher Dean the first time she stepped on the ice.
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The 52-year-old went on to explain: "You get little vulnerabilities and anxieties with menopause and you start to lose your bottle as you get older, so I want to conquer some fears and get my confidence and chutzpah back.
“It’s going to be good for me. When I stepped on to the ice for the first time, I had this feeling of euphoria. It was such an adrenaline rush, I loved it. The first time I went on the ice, Torvill and Dean were standing in the middle of this huge rink and there were cameras everywhere.
“I’d got a blow-dry and was wearing bright blue because I thought it would stand out, but as I got on the ice I went flying, landed on my wrist and hurt it. I thought, ‘If I can carry on with everyone looking at me, that will be a big accomplishment’, so I got back up and kept skating for half an hour and was so proud of myself.”
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