Dancing on Ice star reveals injury left her ‘unable to breathe’ days before premiere

This year’s series is off to a rocky start with two early exits even before the first episode has aired

Dancing on Ice star Roxy Shahidi has opened up suffering an agonising injury ahead of the show’s premiere this weekend.

It’s that time of year again, with a group of new celebrities taking to the rink to show off their moves alongside their professional partners on the hit ITV competition.

Dancing on Ice will kick off on Sunday (14 December), with the first six of 12  stars due to compete in front of a judging panel comprising Jayne Torvill, Christopher Dean, Oti Mabuse, and Ashley Banjo.

The series is rarely without its bumps and bruises, however, and this season is off to a rocky start with both Gogglebox star Stephen Lustig-Webb and skating pro Tippy Pickard forced to exit the show early due to injuries.

Now, Shahidi has revealed that she dislocated her rib during training, which left her “unable to breathe”.

The Emmerdale actor, 40, is among this year’s starry line-up, which also includes Love Island star Amber Davies, world champion boxer Ricky Hatton MBE, and Radio 1 DJ Adele Roberts. Find the full cast list here.

“I dislocated my rib and I felt very sorry for myself,” said Shahidi, who plays Leyla Harding on the long-running soap opera. “I didn’t even know that was a thing.”

“It was hard to breathe. If I coughed or sneezed, it was agony. Absolute spasms,” she told The Sun.

(Getty Images)

Shahidi said that she thankfully recovered in three weeks, but revealed that the injury left her with a “lump where [the rib] kind of came out, which is scar tissue”.

She explained that a dislocated rib is a common occurrence when doing lifts on the ice, but went on to say that was not how it occurred for her.

While she has recovered from the injury, Shahidi is still suffering from painful after-effects.

She told The Sun: “I sneezed and like, all of my body went into spasm, I’ve never felt pain like it.”

“And I literally, like, I couldn’t breathe for it felt like 10 minutes, I could barely open the car door,” she continued. “It took me about 10 minutes to get out of the car.”

Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield presenting ‘Dancing On Ice’ (Jonathan Brady/PA) (PA Wire)

The actor is currently doing strengthening exercises as she continues to recover from the injury. She is, however, still anxious that her rib could dislocate once again as the lifts and tricks become more challenging.

Shahidi is paired with dance partner Sylvain Longchambon. She announced the news of her Dancing on Ice debut during an appearance on Steph’s Packed Lunch in October last year.

Sunday night’s episode (14 January) will also mark Holly Willoughby’s return to screens as the former This Morning presenter reprises her role as the host of Dancing on Ice.

She will be joined by Deal or No Deal host Stephen Mulhern, who replaced Phillip Schofield after he admitted lying about an “unwise but not illegal” affair with a younger male colleague last year.

Dancing on Ice begins on Sunday 14 January at 6.30pm on ITV1 and ITVX.