Dancing on Ice’s training has given me my sexy six pack back & put a new spark into my marriage, reveals Kimberly Wyatt

GLIDING across the rink in her sequins, it is hard to imagine Dancing On Ice sensation Kimberly Wyatt ever losing her sparkle.

But the Pussycat Dolls singer has revealed that after a decade of babies and breastfeeding it is the ice that has now rekindled the American’s fire — and worked a treat for her marriage to Brit model Max Rogers.

Kimberly, 40, says: “You know, Max fell in love with me because he saw me on stage dancing and he was just, like . . . he loves what I do.

“So to re-spark that love and remind us of where we started . . .  as hard as this experience (Dancing On Ice) could be on a marriage, my husband has been unbelievable and supportive, and I can’t wait to run back into his arms and when the final is over, sort of respark our lives.

“That girl is still in there.”

Kimberly — who tomorrow evening contests the ITV show’s final against former Strictly Come Dancing pro Brendan Cole and dancer Regan Gascoigne, son of football’s Gazza — met husband Max 11 years ago when he danced at Clothes Show Live.

She and Max, 39, now have daughters Willow, seven, and Maple, five, as well as two-year-old son Ford.

But Dancing on Ice has helped Kimberly feel more than just a mum.

She now has her abs back but admits: “The body insecurities after having three kids . . . even though I got back on stage with the Dolls seven weeks after a caesarean and was living that life, I was still there with a lot of vulnerabilities — and not having the strength through your abs is a big one.

“I didn’t think the abs were ever going to come back together after my third child. So to have that now, it’s given me more confidence.

“I feel I can now have the strength to continue training like I used to, and dancing like I used to — and I don’t have to say ‘used to’ any more.”

She added of family, and then Dancing On Ice: “My thirties was spent having children, breastfeeding and changing nappies.

"Having turned 40 on the ice, and having the rest of our lives to look forward to in a space where I feel confident is a nice place to be. It’s just really given me a whole new lease of life.”

She will now square up to New Zealander Brendan, 45, and Regan, 26, in the finale of what has been one of Dancing On Ice’s most competitive series.

As pro dancers, all three finalists have pushed the limits of what celebs can achieve on the show.

For Missouri-born Kimberly, that has meant abandoning the raunchy style of US girl group The Pussycat Dolls and embracing softer, more balletic moves — a side of her that she thought she had lost for ever.

She says: “My first dream was to be an ice-skater so it’s taken some tears at home, because I was like, is this about what could have been?

“Like, if I started at six and had been ice-skating, what could I have accomplished by now?

“I was kind of having a cry about, ‘Oh, what could have been?’”

So has Dancing on Ice felt like a kind of therapy?

Kimberly says: “Mmm. This has been such a . . . a ten-week period of exploring every facet of yourself and trying to bring it to the public.”

The finalists will perform four numbers for the judges, including a showdance — for which Kimberly plans a piece dedicated to her younger self.

Doing my inverted spinning split. It was such a goal, because on a blade it’s a whole different thing.

Kimberly Wyatt on her best moment

She says: “It’s looking back at my little six-year-old self. I’ve got a little girl on stage with me, like a mini-version of me, and we’re looking back into the mirror of my first dream . . .  and then being able to live it as a 40-year-old on the ice, floating around in the studio.

“They put on the song — it’s Joni Mitchell, River — and as soon as it started playing I just broke down into tears.”

When The Pussycat Dolls performed on ITV’s now axed X Factor, in 2019, they attracted hundreds of complaints to watchdog Ofcom, from parents who branded it “a strip show”.

But now Kimberly is back on ITV for Dancing On Ice, and reveals show judge Christopher Dean has challenged her to be more “inwards”.

She says: “It’s been so nice to show different facets of who I am as a performer. It was always, ‘Perform out, perform out!’ Now Christopher is like, ‘I want to bring you back inwards and really explore that’.

“That’s been quite reflective. I’m just grateful to be able to do it.

“As a Pussycat Doll, and the fiercer I go, sometimes that can put other women off, for whatever reason.

"It’s nice to maybe show the softer side, the more contemporary, lyrical side, so that hopefully I can sort of open other people’s hearts to what I’m doing on the ice.

“Our job is to take people away from their worries. I hope whatever choices I’ve been making has allowed people to enjoy it rather than maybe push back against it.”

So has Kimberly turned her back on raunchy dancing for ever? “No, never!” she says with a laugh. “I love being fierce and sassy.”

In fact, Kimberly believes the kind of Pussycat moves that attracted 419 complaints following their X Factor show should be taught in schools.

She says: “It taught me how to own my space and my sexuality and my sensuality. It taught me that dancing like that is not a form of giving that away, it’s a form of owning it.

I did a comedic version of Don’t Rain on My Parade but Arlene said she wanted grittiness.

Kimberly Wyatt on Musicals week

"It’s so important to especially teach our teenagers to explore sex through dance. It’s a much healthier way to explore it than exploring it with boys in school or whatever It’s OK, that’s part of who we are.”

Kimberly began dancing at age seven, and at 14 earned a scholarship to study at New York’s Joffrey Ballet School.

There followed roles on cruises, in sketch shows and finally pop videos — where she met Pussycat Dolls founder Robin Antin.

The group began as a burlesque troupe, also featuring Nicole Scherzinger, Carmit Bachar, Ashley Roberts, Jessica Sutta and Melody Thornton, but turned their attention to the charts in 2003 and debut album PCD was released in 2005.

It spawned No1 hit singles and sold millions, while the group toured around the world.

Second album Doll Domination, in 2008, failed to hit the same heights, though, and after the girls competed a second global tour they quietly disbanded.

The group confirmed in November 2019 that they were recording new music ahead of a tour planned for the next year — but then the pandemic struck.

Reflecting on where she is now, and Dancing On Ice, Kimberly says: “You don’t want to just live frivolously as a performer, especially as a woman at 40 years of age.

“I don’t know when my last time is going to be. So I take every chance I get to perform and live and dance. I do live it like it’s my last.”

Of the Pussycats’ scuppered tour, she says: “I thought we’d had it all ready to go.”

But she insists: “I’ll never stop because I can’t help but be really optimistic about the fact we still need to go out there and do what we set out to do.”

So is the discipline and dedication needed to reach the final of Dancing On Ice maybe similar to that required to prepare for a world arena tour?

My girls are such big fans of his, they’re upset about me getting to the final as it meant he didn’t!

Kimberly Wyatt on Kye Whyte

No, says Kimberly — declaring: “It’s more brutal!”

She adds of Dancing On Ice training sessions: “I’ve come a long way, but I didn’t know how to skate. Every time I’ve been on the ice, I’ve taken some major falls.

“I remember at one point I took a fall right to the ribs.

“Christopher Dean happened to be there. He skates over, he was like, ‘Do you still have your teeth?’

“I was like, ‘Yeah, all the teeth are still there’. ‘All right. Get up and keep going’, he said.

“I was like, ‘Oh my God, it really just is part of it’.”

There have also been other setbacks during training.

Kimberly, partnered on the show by Scots pro skater Mark Hanretty, 37, says: “Week two, our hands collided and my thumb was bent back, and I’d torn a ligament in my hand. So I’ve been in a brace ever since. Then going from that to the worst chest infection ever. I was so poorly — it was on, I think, week three — and battled through that dance.

“Then I got food poisoning and was just so sick for two days — I lost over a stone.”

But now Kimberly needs to be at the top of her game for the final.

The three finalists will perform an opening number with their partners, then the showcase routine, before taking to the ice for their favourite skate of the series — which for Kimberly and partner Mark is their tango.

The public vote will then close and the celebrity with the lowest score will leave.

I can’t wait to run back into his arms and, when
the final is over, sort of respark our lives.

Kimberly Wyatt on husband Max

The final two will do their own take on Olympic legend Christopher Dean’s 1984 gold medal-winning Bolero — which he performed with fellow Dancing On Ice judge Jayne Torvill — before the winner is announced.

Kimberly is then desperate to celebrate her 40th birthday — and take the family away for a break.

She says: “I want to get away for Easter with the kids, the family. I need to give my kids the focus they deserve, because they’ve all been the most unbelievable support team, but they’re missing their mummy.”

But she adds: “You do get lost, as a mum in their lives. You can kind of forget you. So Dancing On Ice has been a really lovely opportunity to dive into me, while getting to share that with them.

“I’m like, ‘You know what? I have accomplished some pretty awesome things in my life — and now I have turned 40 on the ice’.”

• Dancing On Ice Live Final, Sunday at 7pm on ITV.