IN her Hollyoaks days, Dancing On Ice star Carley Stenson regularly posed in sexy lingerie for racy calendar photoshoots.
And it is something the 40-year-old new mum, who played mischievous Steph Cunningham in the Channel 4 soap from 2000 to 2011, recalls with fond memories.
She told HOAR on Sunday: “It was liberating as a woman of 20 or so to feel confident.
“I’ve got those pictures to look back on and enjoy.
“It was always something I did back then knowing that, hopefully one day, I’d be an old granny and would say, ‘Oh, look at me back then’.
“I was young and free-spirited. I felt good about myself. I didn’t really think too much about it. It was just me and my girls getting all dolled up and enjoying ourselves. I was just embracing my youth and my freedom, really.”
Carley, who has year-old daughter Skye with her husband, fellow former Hollyoaks star Danny Mac, 34, added: “Now I’m a mum, I don’t know about getting any kit off.
“I just think your attitude changes when you are older — and certainly when you’re a mum.
“I’m all about body confidence though, and women feeling great.
“I would never say no to a shoot like that, I would feel comfortable.”
Dancing On Ice’s gruelling training schedule has worked wonders for Carley’s post-baby body confidence, and she is fitter than ever.
‘Grab life with both hands’
She is even keen to show off her new figure in revealing outfits.
The months of hard work have paid off with her performances too, and Carley and skating partner pro Mark Hanretty have topped the leaderboard.
She said: “It is so funny because I got sent some beautiful revealing outfits and I’m hungry to wear them, but you are on the ice all the time — I’m blooming freezing!
“Even after the show, I’ve got these gorgeous dresses, but we are outside in the marquee and everyone is keeping their coats on.
“So I’m desperate to feel a bit sexier again in my old outfits, but it’s too cold to wear them.
“I love looking leaner and feeling stronger. Internally everything seems tighter and stronger, which feels amazing.
I’m fitter too, and it’s great to be able to run around after my daughter. I just feel better.
“After giving birth to Skye I bought bigger clothes to chill myself out and not put too much pressure on myself.
“But I am now starting to fit in the clothes that I was wearing before, so I’ve been quite happy.”
Carley admits that hubby Danny is also appreciating her trim skater’s body — when he sees her, that is.
The couple, who married in a magical woodland setting in the New Forest in 2018, have both been busy with work, as he is starring in Pretty Woman: The Musical in London’s West End.
Carley said: “It’s nice if I’m awake enough when he comes home. Now I’m just so shattered. But he is enjoying my confidence that’s come with it and he’s enjoying just seeing me shine, thrive and buzz. I’m just buzzing all the time because I’m getting to dance. It’s just feeling fit and getting the blood pumping.
“It releases endorphins and just makes you grab life with both hands. It’s brilliant.”
Despite being awarded top marks by the show judges, Carley is already worried about keeping up the fitness regime when she finishes training for the series.
She said: “I’m too scared to really enjoy that because I know that the minute I’m out of the competition I’ll be like, ‘What can I do to stay this way now?’.
I need to get back into my running shoes.
But I’m loving every time we finish the routine and we’re out of breath and we’re knackered and I’m trying to catch my breath.
“I love that feeling as I know I’m working hard.
“I’m really enjoying sweating on the ice, I’m really enjoying the workout that I’m getting.”
Carley previously dated Hollyoaks co-star Ricky Whittle from 2007 until 2011 but their relationship crashed and burned when he appeared on Strictly in 2009.
He was rumoured to have grown close to Aussie dance pro Natalie Lowe.
More recently, Carley has experienced the downside to so much physical activity, badly bruising her ribs at the beginning of the series and narrowly avoiding serious injury.
She said: “I’ve pulled my ribs. I pulled the muscles there in the first dance, so we had to change the big lift and that’s six weeks of recovery.
“I’m bruised in places I never even thought possible, like all over my thighs. But it’s obvious that’s where Mark’s got to grab me and lift me.
“And then behind my knee, it’s all black. It’s no pain, no gain, plus I don’t feel it when I’m doing it.
“It’s the next day when you’re just making a cup of tea, I’m like, ‘Ouch, where’s that come from?’.
That’s when I feel it. I have so much respect for ice skaters now because the ice can be brutal.
‘It’s about female strength and attitude’
“So yeah, I’m absolutely loving it. It’s exhilarating when you get it right. It’s terrifying when you get it wrong.”
Carley is facing stiff competition on the series from drag queen The Vivienne and ex-Towie star Joey Essex who has formed a strong partnership with former winning pro Vanessa Bauer.
But with a background in stage school, Carley has the determination to get all the way to the final.
She said: “I’m a competitive person and I want to be the best in my field.
“Everyone in the competition is so different, from our skating techniques and styles to our song choices and the way we look.
“If I know I can do it better, that’s when I get annoyed at myself.
“I want to be better for Mark because of the amount of effort he puts into it and the amount of hours and sacrifices he’s made to get on the ice. He deserves a perfect ten. I’m a perfectionist and I think there is a bit of pressure when you are towards the top of the leaderboard to not fall, in every sense of the word.”
Opening up about hubby Danny’s decision to take part in Strictly in 2016, she said previously: “He discussed doing Strictly with me first.
“He actually said, ‘If you don’t want me to do it, I won’t do it.’ I told him not to be silly.
“I love that there hasn’t been too much interest in us as a couple, so I hope that doesn’t change too much.”
Tonight’s show sees the contestants take on Idols Week, and Carley has a true retro icon up her sleeve.
She revealed: “We’ve got Dusty Springfield’s Take Another Little Piece Of My Heart. It’s about female strength and attitude and basically telling the man what it is you want, which I’m all for.”
- Dancing On Ice is on ITV1 tonight at 6.30pm.
