Dancing on Ice's Adele Roberts praises co-star for helping her after cancer
Dancing On Ice star Adele Roberts has revealed that it was due to her professional skating partner Mark Hanretty, she is now able to "reclaim" her body after battling cancer.
Adele, 44, who first found fame when she appeared on Big Brother in 2002 and garnered major headlines, was diagnosed with bowl cancer in 2021. She has now claimed that since joining the ITV skating show, hosted by Holly Willoughby and Stephen Mulhern, it has allowed her to reconnect with her body. In a recent interview, she candidly shared: "Mark has taught me to get my head up, to just present myself and know my body better."
Speaking to the Radio Times, she continued: "With what I've been through health-wise, I think I was a bit disconnected from my body, but Mark has helped me reclaim my body and be able to fully function." Since appearing on Big Brother, Adele, who became a BBC Radio 1 DJ, announced that she was finally cancer-free in June 2022 after regular bouts of treatment to combat the disease, which included chemotherapy and surgery.
At the time, sharing her news with her fans, she wrote: "The day I've been waiting for. Hearing the words 'you're free of cancer' absolutely took my breath away. I keep replaying it in my mind. It was the most beautiful sound I think I've ever heard. Even though I was praying Dr Khan would say that to me, I don't think my head let me believe it until I heard it."
She added: "Everything we've been through seems to be swirling around in my body and life feels a bit surreal at the moment… BUT I AM SO GRATEFUL! I am counting my blessings. I am also in awe of anyone dealing with cancer. The courage, the strength, the determination… and at times, the humour you have shown has been nothing short of super human."
Strictly's Molly Rainford and Tyler West fuel romance rumours while on tourFast-forward two years and ahead of appearing on the popular ITV show, she said:"I think the hardest part is putting myself out there as I usually hide away. I did radio as it's not visual. That's going to be a big challenge." Adele is set to take to the ice for the first time tonight (January 21) after the first six celebrities skated last weekend.
Earlier this month, it emerged that Adele made history as Dancing on Ice’s first contestant to skate with a stoma bag – after surviving cancer.. The brave star now lives with a stoma bag, which she has called Audrey, which is on the right side of her stomach and allows waste to leave her body after she lost part of her colon due to surgery.
As she prepares to star in this year’s ITV show, Adele revealed there was one thing she has to relearn about her body - and that is to learn how it now works. She said: “I’ve noticed that because I’ve got a hole on the right side of my torso, I don’t have a centre where it used to be. I’m having to relearn how to use my body actually and rotation is quite hard.”
Love Island: All Stars airs tonight at 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX