Ryan Thomas reveals Hollyoaks star helps with train for Dancing on Ice - 'He holds my hand doing dance routines'

ok.co.uk:

Soap star Ryan Thomas is tackling Dancing On Ice this year and while he's a rookie in the rink, he's getting a helping hand from best friend and Coronation Street co-star Chris Fountain ahead of his debut.

Ryan, 39, has admitted that he turned to Chris - who took part in Dancing on Ice in 2008 and came in second place - for guidance after the pair became friends on Coronation Street. "I’ve been going on the ice with Chris Fountain [who played Justin Burton in Hollyoaks], my best friend who set the bar high,” Ryan said about his pre-show preparations. "He’s been at my house in the living room holding my hand doing dance routines, then my partner walks in and says, ‘What the hell are you both doing?’ He’s my secret weapon!" Ryan - who is paired with Amani Fancy - starred on Coronation Street as Jason Grimshaw from 2000 until 2016, while Chris played Tommy Duckworth on the soap for two years before leaving in 2013.

Ryan revealed that it was thanks to his daughter Scarlett, who he shares with his Corrie ex Tina O’Brien, that he signed up for Dancing on Ice. “It was fate,” he said. “The week before I got the phone call, my 15-year-old daughter out of the blue said to me, ‘Dad, will you do Dancing On Ice?’ "It was so random and I just said, ‘Maybe one day.’ A week later I got the phone call!

I immediately said yes.” While Ryan dated Tina between 2003 and 2009, he has been in a relationship with The Only Way is Essex's Lucy Mecklenburgh since 2017.