How ‘mesmerising’ Dancing On Ice’s Vanessa Bauer was caught in trail of break-ups, from Joe-Warren Plant to Wes Nelson
WITH her talent, beauty and spell-binding personality, it’s no wonder Dancing On Ice professional Vanessa Bauer commands attention both on and off the ice.
But over the years, the gorgeous star has been blighted by wild rumours that she’s been involved in several of her celeb partners’ love splits.
Since joining the show in late 2017, Vanessa, 24, has been linked to three of her four dance partners, including 2018 partner Jake Quickenden and Love Island’s Wes Nelson in 2019.
Most recently, as the Sun exclusively revealed, Vanessa was left bereft after being blamed for her skating partner Joe-Warren Plant’s split from girlfriend Nicole Hadlow.
A close source has dismissed the claims, however, stating the show itself is a huge strain.
Speaking exclusively to the Sun, the source said: “Signing up to a show like Dancing On Ice is already a big commitment and life change.
“It can of course put pressure on relationships when someone is training all the time and is so focused on the show.
“It’s also no surprise that Vanessa has stayed close to her co-stars, she calls them friends for life, because she is loyal and bonds tightly with people.”
And Vanessa herself has dismissed the rumours, telling us this week: “I can understand why my partners’ girlfriends find it difficult. We spend so much time together rehearsing.
“We’re telling a story on the ice, and it’s nothing more than that, but you have to try to come across as genuine.”
She added: “As far as I’m concerned when my partners have split from their girlfriends I doubt it’s got anything to do with me.”
Here we take a closer look at the trail of breakups in recent years on Dancing On Ice – and Vanessa’s own love life…
‘It takes about two seconds to be mesmerised by her’
The most recent Dancing On Ice relationship casualty was Emmerdale star Joe-Warren, 18, and his model girlfriend Nicole, 24, who split before the ITV show even started.
The couple had been together for three years but Joe moved out just after the Emmerdale star began training with German athlete Vanessa.
Vanessa vehemently denies being personally responsible for any relationship breakdowns, but our close source says she does have an ‘aura’ that makes her instantly attractive to everyone.
“She is just such a wonderful person and everyone seems to gravitate towards her – she’s like this energised little bunny who is so full of life and energy. It’s infectious,” our source says.
“It takes about two seconds to be mesmerised by her, she really stands out in a room. You can’t quite put your finger on it, but you are just drawn to her and of course it helps that she’s simply stunning, with big Disney eyes and this adorable smile.
“You’ll see the people in her company, her partner, boyfriend, friend, agent whoever are all smiling, full of life too – it’s the effect she has on people. And who wouldn’t want to be around that?”
‘We didn’t ever want to end up cheating on each other’
In 2019 Vanessa experienced her own heartbreak, after breaking up with British cruise ship performer Louis Nathaniel shortly before the show started.
The skater announced in the January that she and Louis had gone their separate ways, and the news was said to have come as a surprise to their pals and everyone on the ITV show.
Sources told The Sun at the time that Louis had become concerned about Vanessa’s growing closeness to skating partner Wes Nelson.
And he has since admitted he struggled to trust her, telling The Sun: “I was offered a job last year and wasn’t happy in England but I knew we couldn’t stay together, I knew there was no chance of Vanessa moving abroad with me.
“She was never going to quit her job on Dancing on Ice and I wouldn’t have expected her to.
“When I’m in the same country I trust her, but being in a different country I wasn’t sure how it was going to pan out…. We didn’t ever want to end up cheating on each other.”
Since then, she’s briefly dated model Rory McCall after meeting during a three-month trip to Bali and Thailand where she trained to become a yoga instructor, and was pictured looking very close to Love Island star Jordan Hames at the beginning of this year.
‘You didn’t even look me in the eye’
After finding out about Vanessa’s split, Wes’ then-girlfriend Megan Barton-Hanson was far from sympathetic.
Amid speculation Vanessa and Wes were getting close, she accused the skater of a “tactical break-up” to make the papers.
She then publicly poured fuel on the flames with an Instagram rant about Vanessa, stating: “Love that you decide to announce your break-up with your boyfriend on the night of your 1st performance with my boyfriend!
“You’ve never reached out to me once or invited me to watch you train. It pained you to introduce yourself to me last night — you didn’t even look me in the eye.”
An insider at the time told the Sun On Sunday: “Wes and Vanessa were instantly attracted to each other, you only had to be in the same room as them for a minute to see sparks were flying.”
However Wes – who went on to finish in second place with Vanessa in the competition – later addressed the speculation, saying: “Vanessa this, Vanessa that – it’s not like that.”
Vanessa also hit back at the claims, posting on Instagram at the time that the fling rumours were ‘lies’.
Dumped on ice
In 2018, singer Jake Quickenden was the first Dancing on Ice ‘curse’ victim paired with Vanessa, and called off his seven month engagement to Danielle Fogarty shortly after winning the show.
The couple had been together for four years before their April 2018 split, and have now both moved on, with Danielle recently getting engaged to Ross Worswick and Jake expecting a baby with girlfriend Sophie Church.
However, while history has certainly repeated itself, Vanessa’s partners are far from the only celebs to split after starring on the show, presented by Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield.
Among the other casualties are Love Island winners Kem Cetinay and Amber Davies, who split after he starred on the show with Alex Murphy, and Corrie’s Samia Ghadie left Will Thorp for her dance partner and now-husband Sylvain Longchambon – who was with Hollyoaks star Jennifer Metcalfe at the time.
‘You may ask yourself why you’re settling’
Pals insist that despite the trail of break-ups, Vanessa is dedicated to her career and her ultimate aim is to do well on the show – and that she’s certainly no home-wrecker.
“She wants to explore a lot and has such an incredible work ethic,” says our source.
“She came from quite humble beginnings and is very close to her family and brother which has grounded her.
“She’s also very independent, she’s spent most of her life either at boarding school or on cruise ships and now lives in the UK away from loved ones.
“This means she’s self-sufficient and takes a lot from her own strength, she’s very positive and has achieved a lot.”
