Dancing on Ice’s Sir Steve Redgrave reveals he risks ‘unbearable pain’ if he takes a tumble on hit ITV show

HE’S an icon of British sport  and the most successful male rower in Olympic history, winning five gold medals in five consecutive Games.

So Dancing On Ice should be a doddle for Sir Steve Redgrave, right?

“On the first meet-up day,  I literally hadn’t been on ice for 10 years, and [Jayne] Torvill and [Christopher] Dean were in the middle circle of the rink, and we had to skate around the outside  to them – I had the embarrassment of Chris coming across and  dragging me to the middle!” admits Steve, 62. 

“Some of the rest of the cast could skate at ease.  So I think I’m probably starting from the lowest level.

“Learning skating skills at the age of 62 is a very slow process, even being a sportsperson in the past. That does help me in some ways, with the mental attitude, but trying to get it through my thick skull what I’m supposed to do, and trying to remember it, isn’t easy.

“Hopefully  I will surprise the judges, though, and hopefully the public will support me. My skating skills aren’t going to be fantastic, but good enough that I can put on a good show.

“Everyone says it’s an entertainment show, so I’ve got to entertain people, which isn’t quite the character that I have. I’m out of my comfort zone in many ways.”

Another of those ways being the fact that the show does actually involve dancing on the ice.

“My dancing is appalling,” Steve laughs. “Of all the categories of things for me not to do, dancing would come well up there. The only thing that would be above  it is singing – I will not sing, and you’ll never, ever see  me sing. But then, I thought that about dancing…

“I’ve been married for 37 years, and neither my wife Ann nor I can remember what we danced to on our wedding day, which is embarrassing. That was probably the last time I danced.”

Steve, who suffers from diabetes and arthritis, admits that he’s even more worried about the dancing than the glitzy outfits he’ll be required to wear.

“With the type of skating we’re doing, part of it is about being elegant on your skates, and that doesn’t come easy to me.

“When I first signed up, they said to me: ‘What about the sequins?’ That’s the least of my worries! I don’t mind that side of it.

“They mentioned about the spray tan when we had our first get-together. That was just after a holiday, so  I was reasonably well tanned.

“By the time we get to the first show, I’ll probably be pale just with the worry, so I’ll need some spray tan.

“I’m not sure how glammed  up I’ll be – I’m hoping it’s over the top. I just don’t want people to think that’s normally how I would dress!”

So why exactly is Steve taking part?

“I don’t know if I can answer that!” he laughs. “I’ve never been able to put the time into doing a show like this before.

“Obviously, I’ve known Chris and Jayne for a very long time – we both won our first Olympic gold medals in the same year [1984]. I remember watching them winning the gold medal and  thinking: ‘Hopefully I’ll get selected to go to the summer Games and do the same sort of thing.’

“So we go back a long way. I see them at different functions,  and Chris has jokingly said a few times:  ‘Why don’t you come and do Dancing On Ice?’”

Steve is a father of three children – Natalie, Sophie and Zak – so what do his friends and family make of his decision to risk his sporting reputation on the rink?

“We can take a few guests to each show and my friends are very keen to come along, but they’re asking for the first or second show – nobody’s booking the last show!” he laughs.

“I don’t blame them for that. My kids are quite blasé about it. They’re used to me doing crazy things, and they think this is pretty crazy.

“I think my wife is secretly quite pleased, because it’s brought more routine into my life.

I thought somebody may have to come out and haul me back up to finish a routine

Sir Steve Redgrave

“Every day before this, it was sort of hit-and-miss what I was doing, and suddenly it’s like being an athlete again, where you’ve got a schedule.

“That’s the funny thing – I hated the routine when I was rowing but I’m actually quite enjoying it now.”

Steve, who’s 6ft 5in tall, has been paired with pro-skater Vicky Ogden.

“Before I knew which professional I was getting, I said: ‘I don’t care what gender they are, as long as they’re big enough to lift me and keep me from falling’ – so they gave me one of the smallest skaters in the cast!” he laughs.

“But Vicky is fantastic and she does keep me up. I’ve only fallen twice since I’ve been with her.

“That may tell you how cautious we are. My biggest fear was that if I fall over, how I will use my hands to get me back up as I can’t close one hand and can’t straighten either of them because of my diabetes, so I can’t put my hands down flat.

Perhaps there’s an opening for me when [Torvill and Dean] retire

Sir Steve Redgrave

“I thought somebody may have to come out and haul me back up to finish a routine, but fortunately I can get back up on my own.

“And I’ve got a frozen shoulder! Whatever happens, I will not fall on that shoulder as the pain will be unbearable, so if I fall, I tend to do a very good roll.”

Once Dancing On Ice is over, does the famously driven Steve have any other challenges he’d like to tackle?

“Fourteen years ago, I raced across America on a push bike in a team of eight and I got a slow puncture in my front tyre – I hit the deck quite hard and knocked myself out,” he says.

“We only had 200 miles to go out of 3,000 miles, and I ended up in hospital when the rest of the team crossed the line. So there’s an inkling to go back and complete that.

“But I don’t really have any sporting challenges triggering me. Since retiring, I haven’t been that active. [Fellow Dancing On Ice contestant] Michaela [Strachan] is only four years different in age, but she’s kept herself really fit.

“I do nothing. I play a little bit of golf and pretend that’s my fitness regime. Let’s see how I do in the coming months – I might surprise myself as well as other people.

“As Torvill and Dean are coming up to their last tour, perhaps there’s an opening for me there when they retire!”

Read the full interview with Sir Steve in this week’s TV Mag, available for free every Saturday, only in The Sun.