One EastEnders star almost competed on Dancing on Ice (Image: Matt Frost/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
Former star Kellie Shirley has lifted the lid on the audition process on .
The blonde bombshell – who is set to play the Wicked Queen in Fairfield Halls production of Snow White – rose to fame on the soap back in 2006 when she landed the role of Carly Wicks.
Since then, the mum-of-three has worked on a series of beloved shows including Call the Midwife and The Long Run. More recently, the soap siren landed the role of mental health nurse Sophia in the hugely popular medical drama, Casualty.
But the TV favourite has started to expand her horizons to reality TV after she almost landed a spot on the reality show. In an exclusive interview with Express.co.uk, the mum-of-three has opened up about the real reason she turned down the ITV reality show.
She told us: “I got asked to do Dancing on Ice two years ago [in 2022], but that’s when I found out I was pregnant with Ezra. So, I went along to the auditions for it, because you know, they need to see how good you are at ice skating.
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Kellie Shirley was forced to back out of the show after she got pregnant (Image: BBC)
“And I had to say to them, ‘Look, I’m not even 12 weeks pregnant yet but I’ve come along to it anyways because you don’t know anything until you go for your 12-week scan’. And they were like, ‘Oh, okay. Thank you for letting us know’.”
After welcoming her third child, the doting mum has revealed she is hoping TV bosses will invite her back on the show to help get back into shape. She went on: “It would be the perfect way to get fit, I’ve got to say. It’ll definitely get rid of my mum-bod.”
However, Kellie admitted that just days before the audition she had a terrible nightmare about one of the show’s infamous lifts. The actress continued: “I’d love to wear the sequins and get fit but I mean the ice skating scared me slightly because I was waking up having nightmares about the head banging lift they do.
“Oh, God. I had a dream that they [the professional skating partner] cracked my head on the ice and blood came out everywhere. I was quite pleased when I told them that I’d got pregnant,” she admitted.
Speaking about her upcoming role in the Croydon pantomime, the doting mum excitedly revealed: “I’m thrilled to be channelling my inner Wicked Queen for Croydon’s panto this year.
“As a local girl, I can’t wait to be back in my old stomping ground again for Snow White.” Fans will have to stay tuned to see if the actress will return to Albert Sqaure in the near future.
Croydon’s pantomime production of Snow White returns to Fairfield Halls from December 13, 2024 to January 5 2025.