Ex-Strictly pro Brendan Cole has said that he is proud of his former celebrity partner Sophie Ellis-Bextor after she likened the BBC dancing competition to a "cult" that drove her marriage into therapy.
The now mum-of-five, who took part in the BBC show back in 2013, last week described the intensity behind the scenes which drove her and her husband Richard Jones into marriage counselling.
Quizzed about her candid confession, Brendan has described it as an "interesting read" and said that his "heart broke when [he] read it".
The 45-year-old, who was axed from Strictly in 2018, appeared on Loose Women today to speak about his appearance on the new series of Dancing On Ice.
But when asked about Sophie's remarks, Brendan said that it was "heartbreaking", explaining: "You are away from your family a great deal... I'm just very proud of Sophie for having the courage to speak out".
Brendan also said that he was "so excited" about appearing on Dancing On Ice.
He told the panel: “I’m so, so excited. It’s been a while coming now. I’ve known I’d be doing the show for quite some time and I want to get started, I’m so excited to be on the show."
Opening up about how he was faring on the ice so far, he said: "I’ve had one go. I’m a fairly confident person and I like to think I’m going to be good at what I put my hand to or my feet to!
"I was thinking okay I’m going to be fine, I’m going to be out there and I was terrible. I was a bit wobbly. You can expect to be a bit wobbly on ice but I was hoping I was going to be better than I was. I’ve got time to learn. I’m just going to embrace the whole experience and I’m very excited to get started."
Brendan continued: "To be off the stage for such a long time now. I think March last year I finished my theatre production and all the lockdowns happened.
"To be back on a big stage - and this is a very big, very cold stage - I cannot tell you how excited I am. It means a lot to us in the entertainment industry to have these opportunities and I’m going to take it with both skates!”
Writing in her new book Spinning Plates, which is serialised in the Mail On Sunday, Sophie spoke about her experience on Strictly.
She said: "Some of the show was pure joy and exhilaration. But some of it was seriously intense and, even for a strong marriage like we have, it gave our foundations a good old shake."
During her time on the show Sophie, 42, said there were three marriage break ups and now two Strictly babies - and adds how her partner Brendan - a seasoned pro - told her to involve her husband and friends in the experience as it can become overwhelming.
Describing how distracted she was by confusing dance steps for weeks, Sophie said her husband yearned for the show to be over so he could get his wife back.
On the final day as she was interviewed she wrote: "We were asked questions such as: ‘Is this the best thing you’ve ever done?’ ‘How incredible has your dance partner been?’ ‘What will you do to fill the hole after Strictly?’
"And I had the epiphany that, oh my God – it’s like a cult! Trigger words and the constant repetition of how much it must mean to you."
*Loose Women airs weekdays at 12.30pm on ITV
