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ON THIN ICE
‘I nearly chucked the towel in,’ says Dancing on Ice’s Ricky Hatton as he breaks silence on being bottom of leaderboard
Ricky addressed the moment he 'punched' TV presenter Stephen Mulhern live-on-air
DANCING On Ice star Ricky Hatton has revealed that he almost quit the show and "nearly chucked the towel in" before his first live performance.
The professional boxer, 45, told The Sun said he's going to come back stronger after he found himself at the bottom of the leaderboard on Sunday night.
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Ricky, who enjoyed a night off from training to attend the Cirque du Soleil Alegría: In a New Light European Premiere on Wednesday, confessed that he nearly walked away from the ITV competition - but is proud of how far he's come in just eight weeks.
Speaking exclusively to The Sun, Ricky said about coming last in the scoreboard: "I half expected to be at the bottom, but it’s about doing the best that I can and the best performance that I can.
"Robin [Johnstone] has seen me from where I started from, so has Torvill and Dean.
"I didn’t think this was possible.
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"I nearly chucked the towel in to be honest.”
The sports personality said he's training hard daily to improve on the ice
"It’s going great to be honest with you, I’ve only been doing it eight weeks and if you saw day number one, you wouldn’t have thought that was possible what I did last Sunday," he told us.
"There’s a lot of talent on the show this year and Robin told me that in years that have gone by, the talent is always good but this year everyone is fantastic except me.
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"But where I’ve come, talk about a real sense of achievement from where I’ve come from honestly, it’s brilliant.
"And I think we can do better for as long as we’re in.”
But luckily Ricky has used his boxing experience to help him stay up on the ice - attributing his steadiness to his upper body strength.
He said: "I’ve had a few falls, I’m normally pretty good.
"I’ve got a strong upper body because of my boxing, I find myself going but I can always bring it back and then I catch myself.”
Ricky continued: “I think the first live show was really important for me to get it out the way, to impress, to make people laugh, to make people enjoy it, which is what I think I did.
"And now I’m getting more comfortable in my skating in general, I think I could try and add a few more bits to it.
"I think each round you allowed to stay in, that’s your job, you’ve got to improve more and more.”
Ricky faces tough competition from the other celebrities - including Corrie actor Ryan Thomas and Love Island star Amber Davies, who topped the leaderboard.
But Ricky admitted that his only competition is with himself.
“I think all the others are fantastic, they’ve improved, they’re working hard just like we are," he said.
"We haven’t seen everyone practice, there’s six more this week.
"I’ve just got to try and worry about mine and no one else and try and get through it alive.”
ITV viewers may have tuned in to watch the celebs dance on ice - but were left rather distracted after Ricky punched TV presenter Stephen Mulhern live-on-air on Sunday's show.
Addressing the halirious skit, Ricky laughed: “He was taking the mickey out of me, you don’t want to do that.
"I’m retired but I can make a comeback anytime. He’s a good guy, he’s so good fun, that’s what the whole experience with what I’ve been doing on the ice in training.
";Last Sunday was unbelievable, I’ve met some great people, made some new friends. I think I can say I can skate now.”
Stephen told : "Ricky is one strong man, I asked him to punch me as a gag forgetting for a moment that he is a three time boxing world champion and yes it hurt, a lot!"
During a skit, Ricky was asked to hold the microphone, but funnyman Stephen kept trying to wind him up.
Holly declared: "Just hit him Ricky please."
Ricky then launched a convincing looking left hook at him and he took a tumble live on air as part of the routine.
Holly, who made her return to TV tonight after three months, initially looked shocked but then cheered at the joke.
What asked what he thought of new host Stephen, who now co-presents alongside Holly Willoughby, Ricky added: “I like him, he’s funny, he’s got a good personality and to be honest that’s what you’ve got to be, you’ve not got to take this too seriously this Dancing on Ice.
"If you take it too seriously, you’re going to fall. If you can do it with a smile on your face and relax and have a little bit of a laugh with your partner and just the other contenders, that’s what it’s all about. You’re going to be better for it.”
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Ricky's professional dance partner praised him for working hard and teased what fans can expect next.
Robin shared: "He’s been improving every week, we’ve been adding more stuff. This week you’re going to see some new moves.”
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