Dancing on Ice pro Colin Grafton responds to rumours Claire Sweeney will be 'the first to quit'

Virgin Radio

26 Jan 2024, 15:16

Dancing on Ice pro skater Colin Grafton has defended his celebrity partner Claire Sweeney after rumours began to swirl that she’s likely to quit the competition. 

Whispers started to emerge that the soap star was looking to walk away from the ITV skating show, with bookies (via Entertainment Daily) suggesting Claire might be the first to pull out of the 2024 series.

Colin took time out of his busy rehearsal schedule with Claire to chat to Virgin Radio’s Jayne Middlemiss during her afternoon show today (26th January), and insisted the soap star isn’t going anywhere. 

“There's been so much chatter online all day,” he shared. “Paparazzi everywhere and all these things, but here's the thing. Let them talk because what we're gonna do is we're gonna go out there and smash it. 

“We are working so hard, and we're ready to prove all those people wrong.”

Describing Claire as “a joy to work with”, Colin was also keen to back his star partner as they head into the second week of eliminations. 

“I'm a tough coach, I really push. I pushed and I don't let a lot of time off. She has taken everything I've given her and really just put it to work. Not only that, but we just have a lovely time. We really enjoy each other's company.”

Claire and Colin will be going into week three on Sunday, which is also the always-popular movies week. 

Teasing what’s to come, it seems things are going to get pretty spotty for the skating pair. Colin explained: “I will say that we're skating to something that… the character that Claire is going to portray is from the movie 101 Dalmatians. So I’m assuming you can work that out.”

Claire herself had previously hinted at struggling while taking on “the most dangerous show on TV.”

She admitted to virginradio.co.uk that her rehearsals are not just physically hard but “mentally hard” too, and it’s led to her questioning if she can handle the competition. 

She continued: “When I have a hard fall, it's getting back up there and carrying on, and not wanting to just go home and chuck and towel in, which I've done a few times, to be honest.”

It seems Claire isn’t letting the intense preparation get to her, as she’s also “conquered” her fears on the ice. 

“There's been a few times, I've thought, ‘this is so scary. It shouldn't be like this’. Then I come back and conquer it and I'm really proud of myself.”

Dancing on Ice continues at 6:20pm on Sunday 28th January on ITV1 and ITVX.