A Strictly Come Dancing finalist has reportedly signed up for rival ITV show Dancing On Ice.
Sources believe Hollyoaks star Chelsee Healey is changing the ballroom for the skating rink, with ‘high hopes’ that her dance talents will please viewers.
The 36-year-old Goldie McQueen actress, who has also appeared on Waterloo Road and Casualty, competed on Strictly in 2011, partnering Pasha Kovalev and finishing second to Harry Judd and Aliona Vilani.
She will now appear on Dancing On Ice alongside Ferne McCann.
A source said: ‘Chelsee is absolutely hilarious and of course incredibly glamorous.
‘She made it to the final of Strictly back in 2011 so there are high hopes that she will once again wow viewers with her dance moves.
‘Bosses are determined to get a sexy female line up especially given the lack of women on Strictly this year and Chelsee is one of the hottest soap stars out there.
‘Everyone is very excited to have her on board.’
The insider added to The Sun that Chelsee ‘can’t wait’ to take to the ice.
They said: ‘Strictly was so long ago and this time there’s the added danger of performing on ice.
‘She knows it’s going to be tough but she’s really excited to get out there.’
This comes after it was alleged that Towie actress Ferne, 34, was the first ‘confirmed’ star for the 2025 season of Dancing on Ice.
According to a source, the reality TV star wants to ‘win over the people’ following a scandal.
In 2022, Ferne was heard in leaked voice notes calling the woman attacked with acid by her ex-boyfriend Arthur Collins ‘an ugly f*****g c**t.’
Collins, the father of her six-year-old daughter Sunday, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for throwing acid and causing many injuries in a nightclub in 2017.
Ferne later apologised to Sophie Hall and the other victims of the 2017 attack, but claimed that the voice notes were’manipulated, altered, and taken out of context.’
According to reports, the I am A Celebrity star is hoping DOI will offer her the opportunity to ‘knuckle down’ and change public perception of her.
A source told The Sun: ‘It’s been a rough few years for Ferne but she has always been an ITV star, with her roots on Towie and then with her first steps into the mainstream on I’m A Celebrity in 2015.
‘So Dancing on Ice will be a chance for her to knuckle down, work hard and win over the public.
‘But her casting will raise eyebrows given her background.’
When approached about Ferne’s rumoured casting, a spokesperson for ITV said: ‘The lineup for Dancing On Ice 2025 will be announced in due course.’
In 2023, Ferne addressed the scandal on her show Ferne McCann: First Time Mum and said it ‘destroyed’ her.
She said: ‘My whole world feels like it’s falling apart and it’s destroying me so much and I can’t do anything to fix it.
‘When I heard the voice notes I immediately remembered who I’d sent them to but I believe they’ve since been edited to remove their context.
Ferne continued: ‘Why? Because I think that someone is trying to destroy me and inflict as much damage into my life as possible.’
Fern and her fiancé Lorri Haines, 33, have had their second daughter Finty in July 2023, following the incident.
She described her birth as’magical, one of the best moments of my life,’ stating that it is ‘crazy, fantastic, that women can do this.’
The Sun reports that Holly Willoughby and Stephen Mulhern will return to host the January 2025 season of Dancing On Ice.
Holly returned to present the skating competition earlier this year, alongside new host Stephen, who took over for Phillip Schofield, who resigned from ITV after admitting to having a liaison with a male This Morning staffer.
The most recent DOI winners were Ryan Thomas from Coronation Street and Amani Fancy, a professional skater.
Dancing On Ice is returning to ITV and ITVX next year.
