ITV Dancing on Ice 2023: Patsy Palmer confirmed as first contestant - who is the former EastEnders actress?

Bethnal Green born Patsy Palmer has been confirmed as the first contestant in the new series of ITV’s Dancing on Ice 2023.

The reveal took place on Monday’s episode of ITV’s This Morning programme, after hosts Holly Willoughby and Philip Schofield teased the announcement throughout the show.

Speaking about her participation in the new series, Palmer explained that “I wanted to challenge myself, get back to work, get out of my comfort zone. I just thought, I’ll just go for it!

“It seems a lot of fun. I do like ice skating, although I’m not a figure skater.’

The former EastEnders actress will join 10 other contestants as they look to impress the judging panel, which last series included last year Olympic winners Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, Ashley Banjo and Oti Mabuse.

Who is Patsy Palmer?

Best known for her shrieking cry of “Ricky” during her time on hit BBC One soap EastEnders, Patsy Palmer has grown up before television viewers’ eyes since her first role in Grange Hill.

From Grange Hill, where Palmer played Natasha until 1987, she moved with her family The Jackson’s to Walford as she portrayed fiery redhead Bianca Jackson in the BBC One soap from 1993 to 1999, following this with two return stints on the show from 2008 to 2014 and a one off appearance in 2019.

Her role as Bianca Jackson on EastEnders earned her the Best Actress award at the 2000 British Soap Awards.

In January 2020, Palmer appeared as the Butterfly on the ITV reality singing competition The Masked Singer, followed by participating in the third series of The Great Stand Up to Cancer Bake Off on Channel 4.

In December 2020, she appeared as a guest on BBC One’s The One Show in an episode dedicated to the late Barbara Windsor.

What is ITV’s Dancing on Ice?

Dancing on Ice is a reality competitive ice skating competition that first aired on ITV in 2008.

Each week the celebrities and their partners perform a live ice dance routine. The “ice panel” judges each performance and gives a mark between 0.0 and 10.0 depending on the performance.

These total scores then create a leaderboard which combines with the public vote in order to determine the two lowest placed couples. The pair with the lowest score from the judges can avoid being in the bottom two if the public vote for them.

Once the scores and votes are combined to form the final leaderboard for that week’s show, the couples at the bottom compete in a final showdown known as the "Skate Off", where they perform a different routine known as the Save-Me Skate.

When the couples have performed their routines for the judging panel, the judges decide on who deserves to stay and cast their votes, based on their second performance. The couple with the most votes from the judges receives a place in the following week’s show, while the couple with the fewest votes leaves the competition.

When does ITV’s Dancing on Ice 2023 begin?

ITV’s Dancing on Ice is scheduled to begin broadcasting on ITV from January 2023. Episodes will also be available for catch up on ITV Hub throughout the series.