Sir Steve Redgrave has opened up on what the training is really like for and the commitment it entails following his appearance on the Sunday night reality show.
Speaking exclusively to he revealed contestants actually undergo a lot of training before they ever set a skate on the ice.
“In terms of commitment when you think two hours of ice skating a day, five days a week (that sounds great). You’re starting off with a month of pre stretching and balance exercises before you get anywhere near the ice,” he explained.
“If you did that properly, that was over an hour a day. So you’re doing your your warm up before getting on the ice. You’ve got to get to the ice. It was all consuming,” he admitted. “I loved every minute of it, but it was all consuming.
“Before skating with our pro skaters, we did 30 hours of basic training to start with in the first three weeks and then we meet our pro and we start skating with them from there on,” he continued.
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Steve Redgrave was the third contestant eliminated from this year’s Dancing on Ice (Image: ITV)
While everyone trains at the rink nearest to them Steve soon discovered that his closest ice rink was also home to Charlie Brooks and Michaela Strachan meaning the three of them were often training at the same time.
“Quite often we were on at the same time or there was a crossover and so I could see they were improving better than I was, or starting from a higher level from there on. And the coaches used to come down at least once a week, as well as your pro skater teaching you as well.
“Every week they’d come down and say, ‘Oh, you’re doing so much better than last week’ and I’m still struggling to stand up and get any movement at all, thinking I must have been so rubbish last week or the week before,” he laughed
“Everyone was really very positive on the process. But you could see that Michaela was better, and Charlie was better. I knew I was starting from the lowest level,” he admitted.
Despite his self deprecation, Steve managed to remain in the show until the fourth week when he became the third contestant to exit the contest.
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Sir Steve Redgrave liked Step One Underwear so much he invested in it. (Image: Step One underwear)
Now that his time on the ice has come to an end and with it the training sessions Steve can focus on his other projects including his work with , an Australian underwear brand, which he invested in after trying it out and being impressed by the product.
“The amazing thing about Step One is that as soon as you try it you just don’t wear them just for doing sport – you wear them all the time because they’re so comfortable. And even though I haven’t been involved in the company that long you try not to forget that impact.
“Obviously I’ve been doing Dancing On Ice for the last four months and in that last week I sent a little package to the pro skaters and the other celebrities, and the feedback immediately from skaters that have been skating all their life was: ‘This is the best underwear – not just for skating, in general – I’ve ever worn.’
“And that’s what we find is that when people try them they fall in love with them. So that’s an easy investment, from my point of view,” he said.
You can get more information about Step One products .