Sir Steve Redgrave has a number of health issues that left the ‘Dancing on Ice’ crew “very nervous” about him taking part.
The 62-year-old retired rower will take part in the upcoming edition of the ITV1 skating competition when it returns to screens on Sunday (12.01.25) but has now revealed that – amongst his health concerns – he had a fall just days into the rehearsal process.
He told The Sunday Mirror: “I have colitis, I’m a diabetic. I have a frozen shoulder.
“I had a fall on the third day, which irritated the shoulder and there were a lot of things we couldn’t do.
“I pulled a hip flexor so that’s all in the first few weeks. “I think the production team got very nervous. They were saying, ‘We’ve got to wrap him up in cotton wool. We’ve got to get him to the show.’ And here we are.
“We’ve been given all the protective gear but no, I haven’t put it on at all
Steve – who has been married to Ann Callaway since 1988 and has Natalie, Zak, and Sophie with her – joked his family is used to him “doing nutty things” and they are all “quite excited” about watching him compete.
He said: “They’re used to me doing nutty things.
“They think I’m absolutely crazy doing this but they’re quite excited about it. Some of the other celebs have young kids but my kids have their own kids. My eldest is a plastic surgeon in Swansea – she has an 18-month-old child so I’m not quite sure if she’ll be able to watch me.”
Steve – who will appear on the series alongside the likes of ‘Hollyoaks’ star Chelsee Healey, ‘TOWIE’ legend Ferne McCann and Sam Aston of ‘Coronation Street’ fame -previously explained that the whole thing came about as a result of a joke he made to his fellow Olympians and judges Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean.
Speaking on ITV’s ‘This Morning’, he said: “Earlier this year, on the series, it was Torvill and Dean’s 40th anniversary of winning their first Olympic gold medal, and it’s my 40th anniversary this ear as well so we know each other quite well. And I did one of the links to the show, to congratulate them. So I jokingly told them to try to get me on the show, just as a joke, and here we are a few months later.”
(Image: BANG Showbiz)