EastEnders star Ricky Norwood has signed up for Dancing on Ice years after being axed from his role as Arthur ‘Fatboy’ Chubbs.
It came after he was suspended when a video of the star smoking cannabis and performing a sex act during a Skype chat surfaced, prompting bosses to suspend him for two months.
He left the show permanently in 2015 after producers decided to axe his character.
Ricky – who was revealed as the ninth contestant to be taking part on the ITV skating show – previously opened up about his battle with depression after he was axed from the BBC One soap.
The actor, 40, appeared in Big Brother a year after he left the soap and spoke about the scandal with his fellow housemates.
Ricky revealed that there “was a particular female that sold [him] out”.
He said: “I went into deep depression, I didn’t want to leave my house. I got suspended from my job for two months; I held my hands up.”
He added: “When it came to the end of the contract, it was end of the contract. Normally I’d get a renewal.”
But he says that he was “happy” regardless: “I was only supposed to be there for three months, I was there just under six years…”
Viewers saw the last of Fatboy after he was crushed in the boot of a car which was sent off to be destroyed.
There was uproar when the actor was axed and over the years fans have called on bosses to bring Fayboy back from the dead.
Those fans were will be thrilled as Ricky returns to their screens for the ITV skating show.
Discussing his exciting new venture on the ice, the acting star shared that he was “very excited and very scared.”
He added: “Being on the ice! I’m apprehensive about the lifts, especially the headbanger. I’ve got to trust in the process, trust in the training, trust in the trainers.
“It’s come at such a great time.”
Ricky said he “can’t skate at all,” and used to “hold the penguin” whenever he took to the ice.
“I’ve not done any rehearsals just yet, just physiotherapy exercises to do to strengthen the muscles,” Ricky added.
He said he agreed to do the competition because it was “something that scared him,” as well as being a “massive challenge.”
Ricky will join a line-up that includes boxer Ricky Hatton, Gogglebox’s Stephen Webb and S Club singer Hannah Spearritt.
Other stars include reality TV personality Miles Nazaire, actress Claire Sweeney, Olympics hero Greg Rutherford, Love Islander Amber Davies.
