Age: 30

Professional partner: Nina Ulanova

“I’m quite looking forward to the outfits! I’m going to be proper blinged up! The lads down the pub will take the mickey but they all want tickets!”

Emmerdale actor Matthew Wolfenden admits he’s feeling the pressure as he attempts to follow in the footsteps of former Dancing On Ice winner and fellow soap colleague Hayley Tamaddon.

Convinced to take part in the series by fiancée and fellow Emmerdale actress Charley Webb, Matthew says as the first male from the soap to appear he’s got ‘a lot to live up to.’

He says, “My fiancée Charley is a massive fan of Dancing On Ice and has said for the last few years that I should give it a bash but I’ve always chickened out. It was Charley who pushed me in the right direction, and I’m glad she did because I’m loving it.”

Matthew continues, “Training for Dancing On Ice is tiring, it’s hard work. I’m training in the morning or the evening depending on which way I can fit it around my filming. There’s been number of Emmerdale cast members who have taken part in Dancing On Ice but I’m the first male so I’ve got a lot to live up to.”

Having trained as a gymnast and dancer, Matthew reveals that Dancing On Ice is pushing his fitness regime to the limits.

He says, “I’ve always worked out. I’ve gone to the gym all my life. I’ve grown up doing gymnastics and then I was trained as a dancer. I’ve enjoyed learning a new skill but since training for Dancing On Ice I have found new muscles I didn’t know I had in my legs, they’re absolutely killing me! Being a dancer has helped me with my upper body but it also hindered me a little, you have to use a different foot or take off slightly different than if you were dancing normally on the ground, instead of the slippery stuff.”

Matthew continues, “I’m enjoying working with my skating partner Nina. Over the weeks we’ve been learning lifts off the ice and a few fancy tricks but it’s just trying doing it with the skates on! The skates are quite heavy so its fine lifting Nina without the skates on, then you get the skates on and to be honest, the skates nearly weigh as much as she does.”

Undeterred by the skating costumes, Matthew is also hoping to follow in Chris Fountain and Ray Quinn’s footsteps by attempting difficult jumps on the live shows.

Matthew says, “I’m looking forward to the outfits! I’m going to be proper blinged up. The lads down the pub will take the mickey but they all want tickets.”

He continues, “We’ve been working a lot on jumps and I’m hoping, if I’m lucky enough to stay in that I will be able to attempt an axel at some point in the competition. I’m a bit nervous about trying the head banger it looks ridiculously scary, not necessarily for me but for my skating partner, Nina.”