Sunday 15th January is the day all Dancing on Ice fans have been waiting for as the popular ITV contest, hosted by Holly Willoughby and Philip Schofield, bursts back onto our screens.
A total of 11 celebrities - the usual assembly of soap stars, reality TV personalities and retired sports stars - are taking part, so let’s take a look at the hopefuls looking to succeed Regan Gascoigne as Dancing On Ice champion.
| What | Dancing On Ice |
| Where | Bovingdon Airfield Studio, Hertfordshire |
| When | 18:30, Sunday 15th January |
| How to watch | ITV1 |
| Odds | To Win Outright: Nile Wilson 5/2, Ekin-Su Culculoglu 4/1, Joey Essex 4/1, Siva Kanswaren 7/1, Mollie Gallagher 7/1 |
Nile Wilson
| Age | 26 |
| Occupation | Former gymnast |
| Odds | 5/2 |
Nile Wilson heads into the competition as favourite to win it, just as another former gymnast Beth Tweddle did in 2013.
Wilson claimed a bronze medal on the horizontal bar at the Rio Olympics in 2016 and was also the European champion in that same discipline that same year.
He has won five gold medals at the Commonwealth Games and this is his first appearance in a reality TV series.
Ekin-Su Culculoglu
| Age | 28 |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Odds | 4/1 |
Ekin-Su Culculoglu, who was born in London, appeared in a Turkish soap opera before winning ITV’s Love Island last year with Davide Sanclimenti.
The couple went on to star in their own travel series and she was a popular winner so is now looking to promote her profile further.
Joey Essex
| Age | 32 |
| Occupation | Reality TV star |
| Odds | 4/1 |
None of the 11 competitors will have had as much reality TV experience as Joey Essex, who rose to fame during his starring role in The Only Way is Essex.
Since then, he has taken part in the diving show Splash, finished fourth in the 13th series of I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here (he was also in the Australian version of the show), and won ITV’s The Jump where personalities learned to ski jump, so he will need no introduction to many of the show’s fans.
Siva Kaneswaren
| Age | 34 |
| Occupation | Model & singer |
| Odds | 7/1 |
Irish singer Siva Kaneswaren rose to prominence as a member of the boyband The Wanted.
He has made one reality TV appearance before when, alongside bandmate Jay McGuinness, he won Channel 4’s Celebrity Hunted in 2017 when contestants had to go on the run for 25 days to avoid a crack team of pursuers.
Mollie Gallagher
| Age | 25 |
| Occupation | Soap star |
| Odds | 7/1 |
Mollie Gallagher is most famous for playing Nina Lucas in Coronation Street, a role that earned her the best newcomer award at the 2020 Inside Soap Awards and the best serial drama performance at the National Television Awards the following year.
This is the first time she has been involved in a reality TV show.
The Vivienne
| Age | 30 |
| Occupation | Drag Queen |
| Odds | 8/1 |
The Vivienne - real name James Lee Williams - won the first UK series of RuPaul’s Drag Race in 2019.
He also competed in the All Stars Competition last year and made a spin-off online TV series The Vivienne Takes on Hollywood in 2022.
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Carley Stenson
| Age | 40 |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Odds | 11/1 |
Carley Stenson is best known for her roles in Hollyoaks and in the BBC daytime drama Doctors.
In the last decade, she has been a prominent performer in musical theatre, appearing in shows such as Legally Blonde and Les Miserables, but this is the first time she has taken to the reality TV stage.
Michelle Heaton
| Age | 43 |
| Occupation | Singer |
| Odds | 14/1 |
Michelle Heaton is best known as a member of the group Liberty X, a band which comprised the losing five finalists in the pioneering series Popstars, where winners Hear’Say went on to top the charts.
Since the band broke up, Michelle has appeared on many TV programmes and was a contestant in the sixth series of Celebrity Big Brother.
Darren Harriott
| Age | 34 |
| Occupation | Stand-up comedian |
| Odds | 16/1 |
Darren Harriott is a stand-up who has earned nominations for both best newcomer and best show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
He has his own show - Darren Harriott’s Black Label - on BBC Radio 4 and is a familiar face after several appearances on TV comedy shows.
Patsy Palmer
| Age | 50 |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Odds | 25/1 |
Patsy Palmer attended the famous Anna Scher Theatre School which saw her land a role in Grange Hill as a teenager, but she is most famous for being Bianca Jackson in EastEnders, in which she first appeared in 1993.
She has also appeared in a Strictly Come Dancing Children in Need Special, the Masked Singer and the Great Stand Up to Cancer Bake Off.
John Fashanu
| Age | 60 |
| Occupation | Former footballer and TV presenter |
| Odds | 28/1 |
