EastEnders star Patsy Palmer becomes the first celebrity to be confirmed for Dancing On Ice 

Patsy Palmer is the first celebrity to be announced for the next series of Dancing On Ice, with the LA-based star admitting she won’t travel to the UK for training.

Appearing on This Morning from her home in Los Angeles on Monday, the EastEnders icon, 50, said: ‘I can’t believe I’m the first one. 

‘This was the one I really had to think about, I wanted to challenge myself, get out of my comfort zone.

‘I’ve turned it down before because I was terrified, but when I turned 50 I made a pact to get out of my confront zone. This is for all the 50 year olds. I’m actually quite scared now.’

‘Even my daughter doesn’t know, she’s been travelling.’

Patsy said she will return to the UK for the show but will do much of her training in Malibu. 

She said: ‘I am coming back, but I’ll be training in Los Angeles, which is fantastic.

‘I’m not competitive but this time I’m gonna say let’s try and win it. I’m gonna focus on the training and use meditation, and this will really put it to the test for me.’

Talking about her experience, she said: ‘The experience ice skating I’ve had is that I would go with my friends as kids, as one of the first things we were allowed to do without our parents. We used to skate around fast and crash into the walls.

‘It would be really nice to skate to songs I love, but a lot are very upbeat and I don’t want to create a challenge for myself.’

Patsy lives in Malibu with husband Richard Merkell and their three children, Fenton, 22, Emilia, 20, and Bertie, 10, after relocating to the United States in 2014.

She is also a parent to actor Charley Palmer Rothwell, 30 – her UK based son with former partner Alfie Rothwell.

Close: The former actress regularly shares snaps of herself with husband Richard and their three children across social media 

The former actress, who now earns a living as a DJ, was recently slammed by her fans hit by the cost of living crisis after she asked them to pay £17.99 a month on Instagram for ‘exclusive’ content.

In April she took to her page to promote A Good Life, a page where she would be posting her life in Malibu, how she balances her time, deals with stress and more.

Pasty – an EastEnders icon thanks to her former role as Bianca Jackson – left her fans outraged, with one pointing out: ‘People are struggling to pay bills at the moment’.

The soap star shared the post – which has since been removed – with her 372,000 Instagram followers, along with a lengthy caption. A part of it read: ‘Would you subscribe to A GOOD LIFE. Being a woman is about owning my power within.’

Hitting back at the negative comments, Patsy said: ‘Without resource we cannot create better. Creators work extremely hard to deliver what there followers want from them.

‘Mostly creators operate from a different head space than other people which makes it very hard for them to monetize because they want to share expression with others. There are limits on the energy people have that create, so having an exchange of energy.

‘Be it exchanging talents and gifts that each have to offer or using money to enjoy the creators talents, inspirations, art, music, TV, coaching, teaching etc is a far better way to receive the best they have to offer at any given time.’

Patsy’s pride! How the soap star’s offspring have hit the big time

Charley Palmer Rothwell, 30:

Patsy’s eldest child is based in the UK

The offspring of Patsy Palmer and her boxer ex, Alfie Rothwell, Charley is an actor who has starred in hit films including Darkest Hour and Dunkirk. 

While Charley chose to remain in the UK, Patsy previously admitted she is more than proud of him for finding such success as an actor.

‘I should trade places with Charley!’, she said. ‘He’s 25 now, he’s a man. He’s done incredible things. He’s a movie star.’  

Fenton Merkell seen in an Instagram photo

Fenton Merkell, 22:

The eldest of Palmer’s children she shares with her cab driver husband Richard Merkell. 

Fenton is a model for The Dragonfly Agency. 

He was previously rumoured to be dating Kaia Gerber, the daughter of Cindy Crawford.

Fenton met his fellow model, 20, after Patsy struck up a friendship with the iconic supermodel while in LA.

Emilia Merkell, 20: 

Emilia Merkell on Instagram

She has signed to the same modelling agency as Fenton, continuing on the family’s success in the fashion and entertainment industry. 

She graced the cover of Tatler in January 2019 and is embedded in the model world thanks to her close friendship with Kaia Gerber.