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Daily Mirror
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Verity Sulway

Dancing on Ice's Matt Evers moved in with Denise Van Outen before she split from fiancé

Matt Evers is back on the Dancing On Ice stage this weekend, having starred in every series of the celebrity skating competition so far.

This year, he is paired with Coronation Street legend Sally Dynevor, who famously plays Sally Metcalfe on the ITV soap.

The pair have found training anything but easy, with Sally admitting it took her three years to accept the gig as she was terrified about hurting herself.

However - she feels now that she's in "safe hands" with professional skating champion Matt.

Last year, he battled a devastating blow when his skating partner Denise Van Outen was forced to quit after she fractured her shoulder in three places during rehearsals.

"I partially dislocated it," the 47-year-old explained at the time.

Matt Evers and Sally Dynevor are partnered together this year (sallydynevor/Instagram)

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"Unfortunately, after the rehearsal I spent 15 hours with my shoulder being dislocated because we didn’t really want to bother the NHS knowing that they’re so overstretched.

"It wasn't until the pain was so unbearable that they advised that I went in to see them and then they put my shoulder back in, but then it popped out again and then I skated on it in the most excruciating pain, I cannot tell you.

"And then after that had an MRI and it was fractured in three parts, so I've got three fractures and a dislocation."

Denise and Matt were heartbroken but had no choice other than to bow out.

The skating partners had grown incredibly close in their time together on the show - in fact Matt even moved in with Denise and her then-boyfriend Eddie Boxshall, as well as her daughter Betsy.

Denise Van Outen bowed out early after fracturing her shoulder in three places (Matt Frost/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

It was around the time of lockdown, and the pair felt it would be safer to bubble up together.

Matt told Best magazine: "They opened up their home to me. It was so nice to be around a family unit.

"I cook myself, but Eddie's an incredible cook and their home was beautiful. I felt like I was living in a five-star hotel!"

Matt revealed they had been keeping busy during the lockdown with cocktails in on Saturday nights and a little kitchen disco, as Eddie is a DJ.

The professional skater also said Denise and Eddie had been teaching him Cockney rhyming slang to pass the time, and he was even drafted in to help film Denise's music video for her cover of On My Own, which was shot in the house.

Matt and Denise stunned the judges on Dancing On Ice (Matt Frost/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

Denise chuckled to The Mirror and other press as she admitted she was getting strange looks from her neighbours, who she joked probably believed she was in a 'throuple'.

"We have taken our relationship to the next level," she said.

"We get a lot of strange looks from my elderly neighbours next door, I always leave with a smile on my face!"

She explained Matt was unable to return to his home in America and was lonely in lockdown living on his own, so they asked him to move in.

But fast forward a year, and things are very different.

Just last month, Denise and Eddie announced they had split after seven years together, having originally planned to tie the knot this year.

They were also favourites on the TV series Celebrity Gogglebox.

A source close to Denise said she was "utterly heartbroken" after the split from Eddie, also 47.

The singer posted a heartbreaking message on Instagram alongside a black and white picture of her walking two dogs on a beach.

She wrote: "Over the past couple of months, there has been much speculation regarding my relationship with Eddie.

"It saddens me to confirm that we are no longer a couple. I had to make the difficult decision not to continue in our relationship.

"I will always treasure the good times we spent together, and the memories made."

She added: "We ask that you please respect our privacy at this time, especially for our children," followed by a heart emoji.

Her spokesman also told us: "Denise is understandably upset about the news, but she remains optimistic for the future.

"Her priority is looking after her daughter and continuing to work on the many exciting projects she has coming up this year."

* Dancing on Ice launches on Sunday 16 January at 6:30pm on ITV

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