JOEY Essex was forced to make a last minute change to his Movie Week routine after suffering a “scary” fall in rehearsals.
The challenging compulsory jump element and the elaborate staging proved a major challenge for skaters and backstage crew alike with the show’s creative director Dan Whiston calling it an “incredibly stressful week for everyone.”
But determined Joey professionally battled through his setback to deliver a memorable High School Music routine with Vanessa Bauer.
Three-time show winner Dan exclusively told HOAR: “Joey loves getting into character, so movies week was perfect for him. A scary fall during the dress rehearsal meant a last-minute change to his routine but Joey wasn’t fazed by it at all and even managed to pull off a cartwheel on ice.”
Such was the difficulty of the jumps, Dan can’t recall a week of rehearsals with so many falls.
He continued: “Despite all the fun onscreen, backstage it was an incredibly stressful week for everyone due to the required element being a jump.
“I think there have been more falls in training than ever before, as our skating celebrities desperately tried to master their chosen jump. Luckily there were no serious injuries, just some bumps and bruises.”
With any major production there are always hiccups as crew members cross their fingers that equipment and staging plays ball.
And there was a nervy moment when show favourite Nile Wilson took to the ice for his Mission Impossible routine.
Dan said: “Nile and Olivia’s routine was packed full of daredevil skating and special effects, including an exploding cage, which lifted away to reveal a priceless diamond.
“I was so relieved their live performance was so successful, as during rehearsals Nile got stuck in his flying harness.”
Both Joey and Nile lived to skate another day as comedian Darren Harriott and The Wanted’s Siva Kaneswaran landed in the bottom two and had to face the dreaded skate-off.
Darren was subsequently sent home, and Dan was surprised to see Siva in the danger zone after a successful return from a chest infection. He said: “I was really surprised Siva was in the skate-off as I think it was the strongest he’s skated so far. “
