
Siva Kaneswaran of The Wanted claimed that he was encouraged to accept Dancing On Ice’s offer after witnessing his late buddy Tom Parker’s ‘infectious’ boldness.
After Parker’s death in March from a brain tumour at the age of 33, the 34-year-old musician claimed that he was reminded that ‘life was worth living,’ and so accepted to appear on the 15th series of ITV’s ice-skating competition.
He stated that he was approaching the new year on a quest to face his fears and try a lot more things that he had never considered before.
Referencing his friend’s untimely death, he declared: ‘I’ve chosen this year to do a lot of things that I’d never do and face my fears.
‘Obviously, this year has been eye-opening for me with Tom and witnessing his courage, which was infectious, to say the least.
‘It reminded me that life was worth living and to take it all and to enjoy it.’

Siva continued on sharing the tasks he’s set himself: ‘From that, I’ve been making decisions based on that, doing my driving test finally in Los Angeles, booking the flight I wanted to always go on, and signing up to a song-writing degree course.
‘In comparison, it’s just not as scary anymore, all my fears have shrunk.’
Parker died at a hospice near the south-east London house he shared with his wife Kelsey and their two children after being diagnosed with stage four glioblastoma in October 2020.
Nathan Sykes, Jay McGuiness, Max George, and Siva, members of his band, served as pallbearers at his funeral.
On ITV’s skating show, the musician was paired with professional ice skater Klabera Komini and stated that he would ‘love’ for his bandmates to watch him skate because it is the’scariest thing’ he has ever done.
‘It’s always wonderful to have someone in your corner in case you fall,’ he added.
‘Jay has obviously won Strictly Come Dancing so I need that winning attitude.
‘I’d love for all the boys to come down and support me at some point. Me and Jay have done Hunted and we won that, and Jay has won Strictly Come Dancing so we’re a team of winners – it’s expected of me to win.’
The highly anticipated series also features Love Island winner Ekin-Su Culculoglu who will make her skating debut with professional partner Brendyn Hatfield.
Dancing On Ice returns on January 15 at 6.30pm on ITV1 and ITVX.