Gemma Collins and Richard Blackwood confirmed for Dancing on Ice 2019

The first celebrities confirmed for Dancing on Ice 2019 are… Gemma Collins and Richard Blackwood!

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TOWIE star Collins and actor and rapper Blackwood – who's recently been seen as Vincent Hubbard in EastEnders – were unveiled on This Morning by presenters Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby, who also host Dancing on Ice.

And Collins is a lot more confident than you might think. "Do you know what? As a young girl, my brother used to play ice hockey, so I was at the ice rink a lot," she told Schofield and Willoughby.

The reality star added: “I don't know how they're going to lift me up and how fast I can move around the ice, but I really want to give it a go!"

Speaking about her unveiling on Twitter, Collins said the show would be “ENTERTAINMENT at its best”.

Blackwood, who appeared alongside Collins on This Morning, revealed he is used to the ice from his youth. "I grew up in Sweden, so I used to skate out there," he said. "I can skate, but I normally dance on dry land. So dancing and skating are two different things, which I've got to combine."

Blackwood’s reveal won’t be a surprise to DOI fans after the show posted an Instagram picture that all but confirmed his signing.

Notice the tattoo on the bicep: that was definitely Blackwood.

No official date has been announced so far, but Dancing on Ice is expected to return to ITV early next year.

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