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Dancing On Ice star Sam Aston donned his skates and took to the rink for the very first time this week – and it looks like he’s already being put through his paces.
The English actor, 31, turned the training session into a family affair as he arrived at the Manchester Ice rink on Friday with his wife Briony Aston and their three children.
He cut a casual figure in a black tracksuit consisting of a zip-up hoody and jogging bottoms as he took to the rink with one of the trainers.
He completed his look with a padded coat and a navy blue and white baseball cap as they entered the building.
However, during his training session, the Coronation Street star seemed to struggle with moving around on his skates.
Dancing On Ice star Sam Aston, 31, donned his skates and took to the rink for the very first time this week – and it looks like he’s already being put through his paces
The Coronation Street star was forced to stop and take a breather after taking to the rink for the first time ahead of the new series in January
At one moment Sam appeared puffed out as he bent over with his hands on his knees in an attempt to take a quick break.
Despite the rocky start, Sam put his all into the training session and soon found himself gliding along without a helping hand.
Earlier this month, Sam, who is best known for his role as hapless Chesney Brown on Coronation Street, was unveiled as the latest contestant to join the show.
He said on This Morning: ‘I can’t say it was something that I always wanted to do. It came about, and it was just one of them.’
‘The press office mentioned it, we went for a chat and I got a real buzz just going in and experiencing it.’
‘We just went for a chat, they explain how the show works and they stand you on the ice for five or 10 minutes just to get a basic sense of what you’ll be like and that was it really.’
The soap star – who has Sonny, four, Daisy, two and four-month-old Hazel with wife Briony – made appearances on Where the Heart Is and The Bill before landing his signature role as Chesney.
But apart from taking part in an episode of All-Star Family Fortunes in 2005, he has rarely featured as himself on TV because it was not something he had ever considered after starting his career as a child.
The English actor, 31, turned the training session into a family affair as he arrived at the Manchester Ice rink on Friday with his wife Briony Aston (centre) and their three children
Sam cut a casual figure in a black tracksuit consisting of a zip-up hoody and jogging bottoms as he took to the rink with one of the trainers
He completed his look with a padded coat and a navy blue and white baseball cap
However, during his training session, the Coronation Street star seemed to struggle with moving around on his skates
At one moment Sam appeared puffed out as he bent over with his hands on his knees in an attempt to take a quick break
The trainer then offered him a helping hand as she encouraged him to keep on going
Despite the rocky start, Sam put his all into the training session and soon found himself gliding along without a helping hand
He said: ‘Coming into the show as a young child, you don’t really think about doing I’m A Celeb or anything like that.
‘But I’ve got children myself now, and my son is pretty excited about it.’
An actor from ITV’s flagship soap normally takes part in Dancing on Ice, and Sam will be following in the footsteps of the likes of Lisa George (Beth Tinker), Faye Brookes (Kate Connor), Sally Dynevor (Sally Metcalfe) and Ryan Thomas (Jason Grimshaw), who claimed victory in last year’s competition.
He added: ‘Anyone at work who I’ve spoken to has done it have all kind of the same thing that it is a great experience and it is really hard, and it’s tiring and tough but it is brilliant as well. I’m nervous, but I’m excited as well.’