Nile Wilson believes 'Dancing on Ice' and the Olympics are "on a par".
Olivia Smart partners Nile Wilson on Dancing On Ice
The 27-year-old gymnast - who won a bronze medal on the horizontal bar at the 2016 Games in Rio before retiring in 2021 due to injury - feels the same "level of pride" performing on the celebrity skating show with professional partner Olivia Smart as he did when he competed internationally for Team GB.
He told The Sun newspaper's Bizarre TV column: “'Dancing On Ice' and the Olympics are on a par. You still feel the same level of pride.
"The enormity of our experience, having to learn how to skate in such a short period of time then going on live TV in front of five million people.
“It feels the same to me as competing in the Olympics.”
Nile and Olivia have frequently topped the leaderboard throughout the series but the sportsman admitted his partner has to keep him "on a leash" because he's so keen to push himself as far as he can, she's worried he will get injured and they will have to withdraw from the competition.
He said: “The more confident I get on the ice, the more dangerous I want to take the stunts. Olivia is like, ‘Remember we want to get to the final and and we can’t do it if we’re broken!”
Meanwhile, 'Dancing On Ice' professional Matt Evers - who was partnered with Patsy Palmer - has dismissed viewer complaints that Nile and Olivia have been "overmarked".
He said: "I've heard talk about Nile being 'overmarked'. Well, there are always rumblings about who may be overmarked or undermarked - but as Christopher Dean said in a recent session with us, yes, it's a competition, but the ice panel judge the individual performance that week."
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