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Ian ‘H’ Watkins ‘thankful’ for break from intimate lifts

Ian ‘H’ Watkins is "thankful" he doesn’t have to perform intimate lifts anymore following his ‘Dancing on Ice’ exit.
The singer was paired with pro Matt Evers on ITV’s figure skating show before their exit last night (09.10.20), and he admitted two men performing together does have its own set of challenges, particularly when it comes to certain manoeuvres.
He said: "Actually, I’ve got away scot-free with the bruises. As you know, we were doing a lot of lifts, and some of them weren’t possible because anatomy got in the way.
"So I’m thankful not to be doing those anymore, I’m not going to lie."
After losing the skate-off over the weekend, the 43-year-singer said it was Strictly Come Dancing’s "turn now" to introduce same-sex couples.
And he described last year’s Strictly’s same-sex routine, which saw pros Graziano Di Prima and Johannes Radebe teaming up to dance with each other during one show, as a "brilliant knee-jerk reaction".
Appearing on ‘Lorraine’ the morning after his departure, Ian said: "They kinda did it, there was a knee jerk reaction to our news, which was brilliant.
"They paired to pros up, and that visibility absolutely matters – but let’s do it every week. Let’s do a contestant and a pro."
Ian – who described his experience on ‘Dancing On Ice’ as the "most brutal but brilliant" moments of his life and career – is grateful to show bosses for pairing him with Matt.
He said: "It’s started so many positive conversations… I think it’s just an incredible thing."
H was voted off the show after finding himself in the bottom two alongside magician Ben Hanlin, who the judges ultimately opted to save.