Dancing On Ice star Colin Grafton is still riding high on his quarter-final place with Traitors' winner Mollie Pearce, but in this exclusive chat with new, he reveals he's taking a much-needed break.
The 33-year-old American pro skater debuted on the series in 2022, and made history the next year when he was paired up with RuPaul's Drag Race star The Vivienne, who passed away suddenly in January.
The two became incredibly close friends and her death has understandably hit Colin hard.
“She taught me so much about myself and life,” he tells us. “When you go through something as strenuous and as history-making as we did, it creates a special bond that you can never repeat. It was so special on every level.”
In this exclusive chat, he also opens up about his acting role alongside Meghan Markle, and the reaction to his accidental “coming out” interview…
Hi, Colin! Well done on making it so far with Mollie. You didn't get off to the best start, did you?
No, it's been quite the journey but we have such an incredible partnership and friendship now so it's genuinely been such a treat. She fractured her wrist before we even met which added a bit of pressure and stress and we spent the first month off the ice. But actually, Mollie has no background in performing at all – she worked in a hospital and became famous overnight – so we worked in the ballet studio on the performance aspect and, looking back, that was actually one of our strongest suits.
Are you disappointed not to win or are you of the “it’s the taking part that counts” camp?
Anyone who does a show like this wants to win, right? You wouldn't sign up otherwise. But I don't think people realise how busy the show actually is so you have to only focus on what's in your control, and there's so much that's out of your control. The public vote, if they like the song, the routine, even if you've delivered perfectly.
Was it nice being back with Holly Willoughby and Stephen Mulhern?
I've known Holly for four years now and she's lovely. We don't see them often because we're in training all week but naturally you get close over the years. Holly was so lovely to me and she personally came up to me and asked me how I was doing about everything that happened [The Vivienne's death] at the beginning. It was really touching. And Steve is hilarious, he's genuinely a really lovely guy. When he replaced Phillip [Schofield] he came down to watch a full day of rehearsals and took the time to introduce himself to every single person. They make a really great duo.
You had a brilliant friendship with The Vivienne. How have you been managing since her death?
To be honest, it's been very difficult. I was out to dinner with Mollie and her family when I found out, and I was in shock. It was two days before the press launch of the show and my family are in the States and were thinking of flying over, but I was lucky as I was surrounded by an incredible group of Da...
The 33-year-old American pro skater debuted on the series in 2022, and made history the next year when he was paired up with RuPaul's Drag Race star The Vivienne, who passed away suddenly in January.
The two became incredibly close friends and her death has understandably hit Colin hard.
“She taught me so much about myself and life,” he tells us. “When you go through something as strenuous and as history-making as we did, it creates a special bond that you can never repeat. It was so special on every level.”
In this exclusive chat, he also opens up about his acting role alongside Meghan Markle, and the reaction to his accidental “coming out” interview…
Hi, Colin! Well done on making it so far with Mollie. You didn't get off to the best start, did you?
No, it's been quite the journey but we have such an incredible partnership and friendship now so it's genuinely been such a treat. She fractured her wrist before we even met which added a bit of pressure and stress and we spent the first month off the ice. But actually, Mollie has no background in performing at all – she worked in a hospital and became famous overnight – so we worked in the ballet studio on the performance aspect and, looking back, that was actually one of our strongest suits.
Are you disappointed not to win or are you of the “it’s the taking part that counts” camp?
Anyone who does a show like this wants to win, right? You wouldn't sign up otherwise. But I don't think people realise how busy the show actually is so you have to only focus on what's in your control, and there's so much that's out of your control. The public vote, if they like the song, the routine, even if you've delivered perfectly.
Was it nice being back with Holly Willoughby and Stephen Mulhern?
I've known Holly for four years now and she's lovely. We don't see them often because we're in training all week but naturally you get close over the years. Holly was so lovely to me and she personally came up to me and asked me how I was doing about everything that happened [The Vivienne's death] at the beginning. It was really touching. And Steve is hilarious, he's genuinely a really lovely guy. When he replaced Phillip [Schofield] he came down to watch a full day of rehearsals and took the time to introduce himself to every single person. They make a really great duo.
You had a brilliant friendship with The Vivienne. How have you been managing since her death?
To be honest, it's been very difficult. I was out to dinner with Mollie and her family when I found out, and I was in shock. It was two days before the press launch of the show and my family are in the States and were thinking of flying over, but I was lucky as I was surrounded by an incredible group of Da...
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New UK (Digital) - 1 Issue, March 10, 2025