Ian ‘H’ Watkins admitted negative comments about his ‘Dancing On Ice’ performance were a "dagger in [his] heart".
The Steps singer – who has three-year-old twins Macsen and Cybi with former partner Craig Ryder – has teamed up with professional skater Matt Evers to be the first all-male coupling on the show and though their first routine was met with a largely positive reception, the pair were still targeted with "hideous" insults.
H told HuffPost UK: "The reaction was incredible – a lot of the comments were overwhelmingly supportive, but when people call you hideous names and say things like ‘It’s not natural’ or ‘You’re a f****t’, all of those awful names, for me, they’re a dagger in my heart.
"I think the world has progressed and changed so much, but those kinds of people still exist and will come into contact with my children.
"And those bigots will breed more bigots and we’re bigger and better than that now, as a society. It’s changed so much, but there’s still a small minority that breeds negativity and it’s hideous."
The pair’s routine sparked 16 complaints to TV watchdog Offcom and the ‘One For Sorrow’ hitmaker found the objections hurtful.
He said: "It hurts, because 16 people were offended so much by two guys dancing on ice together – it’s not like we were ripping each other’s clothes off and snogging. It’s crazy!
"I thought what we did was very tasteful, it was strong, it was dynamic."
Now the first performance is over, H wants to focus on improving his skating and has "three benchmarks" he’s keen to reach on the show.
He said: "
The singer "The first one was to get the first skate out of the way and represent a whole different community.
"For the next one, I’d like to push the boundaries a little bit more and do a romantic song and portray it beautifully and delicately and just the same as a heterosexual couple – I want to tell a love story.
"My ultimate goal on the show, if I make it that far, I’d like to see two guys do the Bolero in the final."
Ian H Watkins devastated by Dancing On Ice backlash
