Actress Carley Stenson has said Oti Mabuse will not “hold back on her comments” while judging her on Dancing On Ice, despite their friendship.
The former Hollyoaks star, 40, is among the 11 celebrity contestants being put through their paces in the new series of ITV’s ice skating competition.
Stenson delivered her first performance on Sunday with her professional partner Mark Hanretty, and went on to top the leaderboard with a score of 32, with all four judges giving her eight points.
Mabuse, who is one of the judges on the skating competition, was previously a professional dancer on BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing and was partnered with Stenson’s husband Danny Mac in 2016.
Mabuse and Mac went on to reach the final and after spending so much time together with Stenson, they became good friends.
However, Stenson told Hello! magazine that Mabuse had said to her: “I’m a friend, but I’m definitely going to be watching out.”
The actress added: “So she will be putting me through my paces and won’t hold back on her comments.”
Stenson, who recently appeared in the play Dial M For Murder and the musical From Here To Eternity, is also mother to daughter Skye, who was born in June 2021.
“Life is beautiful but bonkers right now. We want to keep Skye’s life really normal and fun and not chaotic, even though ours will be,” the actress said.
“In all honesty, I thought I might not be able to do the show, but we figured it out somehow with the support of our family and friends – and Danny, of course.
“He is so excited for me. He wants me to embrace every moment of it.”
Despite her excitement about the show, Stenson said she struggles with leaving her child to go to work.
She said: “I feel awful when I’m not with her. Mum guilt is real – it’s part of my DNA now.
“I remember my first day back to work, when Skye had a rash. I got off the Tube and I could have gone left to work or right to go home, and I had to ring my mum and say ‘Please tell me what to do’. It was horrible.
“But I knew Skye was with my mother-in-law, who is a nurse, so she could not have been in better hands.”
Mac, 34, who stars in Pretty Woman at London’s Savoy Theatre, described his wife as “superwoman” to Hello! magazine.
He said: “Carley went from working full-time, then the pandemic hit, then getting pregnant and having a baby.
“It must be so hard for any new mum to regain their independence, go back to work, and she has managed to do it.”
Read the full article in Hello! magazine, out now.