James Jordan has tipped Faye Brookes to be "the best” celebrity contestant on 'Dancing on Ice'.

James Jordan

James Jordan

The 42-year-old ballroom dancer - who won the ITV ice skating competition in 2019 - believes the 33-year-old actress could be in the running to be crowned this year's champion after her impressive debut on Sunday night's (24.01.21) show.

Asked which contestants impressed him the most, James told HELLO! magazine: "Graham Bell is a professional skier so I'm sure he's ice skated before, he has an understanding of how ice skating works and he was terrific, I liked him. The performance element wasn't necessarily there though but Faye Brookes, I think she's going to be one of the best skaters and performers to ever be on the show. She was amazing, ridiculously good!"

His wife, Ola, agreed: "Yes, she was by far the frontrunner. Unbelievable! The routine that Hamish did, and the skating. The way she used her arms and everything, she was ridiculously good. I loved her."

Faye and her skating partner Hamish Gaman earned the top score of the night having received a total of 31.5 from judges Jayne Torvill, Christopher Dean, Ashley Banjo and John Barrowman with their performance to Taylor Swift's 'Lover'.

What's more, James also predicted that a female star will win this year after four men have taken the title for the past four series.

He explained: "Last year it was Joe Swash, the year before it was me, the year before that was Jake Quickenden, the year before that was Ray Quinn! But this year you have a lot of strong women in the competition and Faye, for me, is definitely the frontrunner."

However, the former 'Strictly Come Dancing' professional thinks the 'Coronation Street’ star - who played Kate Connor on the long-running soap between 2015 and 2019 - might have some strong competition in 'Emmerdale' actor Joe-Warren Plant.

He continued: "The only one who might be able to stay with her on skating might be Joe-Warren. But apart from that, she's a winner."