BOYBAND hunk Siva Kaneswaran spent years dressing up – and down – as a member of The Wanted.
But he’s prepared to take his efforts to the extreme in pursuit of the public vote on Dancing On Ice.
Siva, who shot to fame 13 years ago with the chart-topping group, told me: “I was shy the first week with a suit on, it wasn’t very glittery.
“But after a couple of weeks of lifting above my head, spinning, I think I’m ready to give the audience a bit of a peek.
“I’ll bring the fire, strip off . . . as the weeks go on, an extra button comes off. I never ever considered myself as a pin-up but it’s nice to be admired.
“There’s nothing wrong with that.”
And he laughed: “If it’s going to get me some points, I’ll do anything for the points.”
The Irish singer is holding his own in the ITV skate contest as it reaches its halfway point.
And he teased how his wife of seven years Nareesha is already reaping the benefits of the physical toil.
Siva added: “My missus is quite pleased. I’ve got some serious glutes now and everything’s so toned, I’ve got abs.
“Honestly, I feel like Superman. Nareesha’s my Lois Lane. It’s great for her to witness my growth, I’m way more disciplined, way more driven, passionate, creative . . .
“She says, ‘Oh my God, he’s so brave and hot and sexy’.”
While Olympic gymnast Nile Wilson and former Hollyoaks’ star Carley Stenson lead the pack, Siva has swiftly found his feet on the ice.
And he says it’s come as a “great distraction” from the last, torrid year where The Wanted lost bandmate Tom Parker to brain cancer.
Siva told me: “It’s been positive, a way to really find an outlet for my artistic side to come out.
“I think Tom would be well shocked, honestly.
“I know he’d take the pee out of me first, and then be a huge supporter. He’d come to all the shows and he’d be online a lot sending videos, posting the videos. He’s my cheerleader, always will be.”
Watch Siva and pro partner Klabera Komini on Sunday, 6.25pm on ITV.
Gillian scoops Andrew
GILLIAN ANDERSON met some seriously shady characters as The X-Files’ Dana Scully and she’s doing it again in a new drama about Prince Andrew.
The American actress will play BBC journalist Emily Maitlis in Scoop, a Netflix film about the Duke of York’s car-crash Newsnight interview in which he attempted to explain his links with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
The Prince will be played by Rufus Sewell, while Keeley Hawes will portray Amanda Thirsk, his former private secretary.
The all-star cast also features Billie Piper as Sam McAlister, the producer who negotiated and secured the bombshell interview.
Scoop is based on Sam’s memoir, Scoops: Behind The Scenes Of The BBC’s Most Shocking Interviews.
We were strictly friends
POP star Hrvy has revealed that his rumoured Strictly fling with Maisie Smith was one big showmance.
He said the pair played along with suggestions that they had a relationship during the 2020 series of the BBC1 dance contest.
Hrvy, real name Harvey Leigh Cantwell, says: “Everyone thinks that me and Maisie were a thing.
“People do do the business on Strictly . . . but I did not. Me and Maisie just started to play on it. We’re good mates.”
But Hrvy, who was paired with Janette Manrara, can understand why some celebs and dancers get together.
On the Not My Bagg podcast, he added: “These people are dancing and getting up close. I can see how easy it is for people to fall into that trap, but I didn’t.”
US actor Matthew McConaughey is to voice Elvis Presley in an upcoming Netflix animated series, Agent Elvis, which reinvents The King as a spy.
The streamer says: “Elvis trades in his white jumpsuit for a jet pack to help battle the dark forces that threaten the country he loves.”
Rocked bottom
IT’S almost a surprise that it has taken this long for Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson’s bawdy comedy Bottom to fall foul of the censors.
An episode from 1995 has been pulled from Gold over “scenes that could be deemed offensive to the Royal Family”.
The plot involves the pair forging money which contains pornographic doodles of the royals, with the £5 said to feature “the Queen’s jugs”.
A spokesperson for Gold’s parent company UKTV told Chortle that the episode had been removed after the death of the Queen and would be back online in the future.
