Dancing On Ice: Brendan Cole on the ‘ridiculous dedication’ to the final Bolero performance

Virgin Radio

27 Mar 2022, 09:00

Dancing on Ice finalist Brendan Cole admits he and his fellow skaters have put everything into perfecting the iconic Bolero routine ahead of this weekend’s final. 

Brendan will go up against Pussycat Dolls star Kimberly Wyatt and fellow dancer Regan Gascoigne for a chance of lifting the DOI trophy on Sunday night. 

The Bolero was a routine made famous by the show’s judges Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, and is always the final performance in Dancing On Ice. 

When asked about the pressure of getting to Bolero just right, Brendan told virginaradio.co.uk and other press that it’s a perfect point to finish the series on. 

He explained: “It will be our last skate. So it's kind of a moment in our time of the show. To get to perform it would be a lovely, lovely thing to finish on.

“You can almost see the end of your number and just feel how the whole journey was six months of ridiculous dedication and sacrifice for our families. We're all coming back and it's finished.”

Fellow star skater Kimberly added: “I think the Bolero is amazing. And I just hope that I get to do it. Because only two of us have to do the Bolero and to think about a moment in sport that transcended to art that touched everybody's lives in this country.

“It's been such a pleasure to go and study it and speak to [Torvill and Dean] and see it. It feels like quite an education to dive into that and be able to recreate it.”

With all of the Dancing On Ice winners having a Bolero performance in their back pocket, have the final three received any advice from previous champs?

“Sonny Jay [2021 winner] messaged me actually on Instagram,” Regan said. “He was just like, enjoy every moment of it. It was like just enjoy it. It's insane. It's a once in a lifetime. So he sent that to me and that was very nice.”

Despite being in fierce competition with each other, the final three have grown very close over the recent weeks, and former Strictly pro Brendan insists there’s nothing but love between the star skaters.

Brendan explained: “We're very close, obviously, with our pros, we spend so much time together. At the beginning, we didn't really get to meet as much as a group because of COVID stuff. 

“For the last few weeks, we have been able to see each other on the ice, especially doing the shows, you get to see each other and it was really nice and you share this whole experience and know what you're all going through.

“So in the hard work you all put in and the same sort of similar stresses and so it's really nice like you'll remember it forever.”

Brendan, Kimberley and Regan will hit the ice for the Dancing on Ice Live Final on Sunday 27th March at 7pm on ITV and ITV Hub.