Stephen Mulhern is still in pain after jokingly being punched by Ricky Hatton.
Stephen Mulhern is in pain after being punched by Ricky Hatton
The 46-year-old presenter was "nearly knocked out" during a skit on the first episode of 'Dancing On Ice' which saw the former boxer - who was voted off the show on Sunday (21.01.24) after making his debut the week before - strike out in response to him irritating co-host Holly Willoughby, and though the moment was planned, the magician wasn't prepared for how much it would hurt.
He told The Sun newspaper: "I said to Ricky, do us a favour...Holly will say to you 'just punch him Ricky', which she said off the cuff initially and I said 'we should do that live'.
"Obviously I forgot he's a three time world champion boxer.
"He nearly knocked me out. If I showed you the bruise, it is massive. It's on the arm, it's very painful."
Stephen - who wore padding to ease his fall when he was knocked to the ground - joked he didn't mind because he enjoys seeing people fall over on the show.
He laughed: "That's why the show is so enjoyable. Dancing On Ice, anyone can fall over.
With a cheeky wink, he added: “Not to say I like it when people fall over. But it is quite funny... so yeah I really enjoy that."
The presenter is "loving" his new job on the skating show, particularly because he gets to work with his former 'Ministry of Mayhem' co-host again.
He said: “There's not many shows out there where you get to do live TV and also I get to do a show with Holly which I haven't done in so long.
“I trust Holly and she trusts me. We're having a really nice time.
“You know having stood in once (when Phillip Schofield had Covid last year) - which is also quite weird that it's gone full circle - I'm loving it."
Stephen thinks the judges have been quite "harsh" on the contestants so far and he'd be "more generous" with his marks if he was on the ice panel.
He said: “So I am watching and some of the judges scores I think, wow, that's a bit harsh, because we're only in week two now.
“We've seen six of each, and the judges, yeah I'm like, 'Wow, I thought they'd give more than that!'
“We'll have to see how the show goes on, but hopefully they'll be a bit more generous."
Tagged in Holly Willoughby Ricky Hatton Stephen Mulhern