MATT Richardson feels grateful he had little warning about his Dancing On Ice debut because otherwise he would’ve overthought it all.
The 29-year-old comedian has been a stand-in for the ITV figure skating show since October and will take to the ice on Sunday’s forthcoming show.
Matt’s stepping in to replace fellow comedian Rufus Hound – who was axed from the programme this week after he tested positive for coronavirus.
But the figure skating debutant felt confident and admitted he will go into his first routine “without too much trepidation”.
Matt said: “I’ve done exactly the same amount of training as everybody else. I was just doing it off-camera and not doing the show on a Sunday.
“I started in October, five days a week since then.”
Matt revealed not getting much notice to step onto the ice for a live performance has been a good thing for him.
“It’s the best thing that they’ve bounced me in because I haven’t had much time to think about it,” he revealed.
“I’ve just got to go for it without too much trepidation.
“Hopefully it goes OK.”
Matt may not have skated on the main show just yet, but he hasn’t escaped injuring himself on the ice.
The former ‘Xtra Factor’ co-host fell flat on his face back in October, which left him with concussion and a black eye.
Explaining the incident on Lorraine, he said: “On the Masterclass day, I went to skate and was terrible. They said the problem was my limbs, which isn’t ideal.
“He [Christopher Dean] gave me a pole to skate with to stop my arms moving.
“As I was skating with a pole I caught the front of my blade and went over the front of the pole. But because I was holding something I couldn’t put my hands out to stop myself.”
Matt revealed after injuring himself he was given the rest of the day off from training.
“So, my face took all of the fall, and I ended up being sent home with concussion and a black eye.”
He joked: “It was entirely Christopher Dean’s fault, I think he knows that deep down.”
He began doing stand-up in November 2009 at the age of just 18 and made it to the finals of So You Think You’re Funny and the Chortle Student Comedian of the Year in 2010
In 2013 he hosted the ITV2 spin-off show The Xtra Factor with the late Caroline Flack.
The star was also a regular on Channel 5’s Big Brother spin-off show Big Brother’s Bit on the Side and also fronted spin-off show Celebrity Haunted Hotel: Do Not Disturb.
