Zoe SalmonFormer Blue Peter presenter Zoe Salmon has said she found it embarrassing when she started rehearsing with partner Matt Evers for Dancing on Ice.

She told the Mirror recently: “Some of the lifts are very intimate and I’m such a prude! I mean, on date 64 you might get a kiss on the cheek if you’re lucky!

“It was a massive hurdle for me to overcome. I used to just stand on the ice and giggle because I was embarrassed.

“I’d get told, ‘You need to stick your boobs out’ or ‘I’m going to put my hand round by your thigh and your f***y’. That shocked me as I just think it’s a really vulgar term.

“At first, I said, ‘Excuse me, is there any way you can call that something else?’ but then I realised I needed to get over it. In training they call a spade a spade as it’s the quickest way.

“Now I don’t raise an eyebrow. It’s a very intimate sport!”

She added though that taking part in the show is fulfulling a longstanding dream: “I just want to be good at it, as this is the first sport I’ve fallen in love with. Growing up I wanted to be a ballerina so I just pretend I’m a ballerina on the ice. It’s a childhood fantasy.

“I do get nervous because it’s so dangerous. Honestly even the elegant and pretty lifts would bring you to tears they’re so painful. You can eventually master it and make it look so easy but it still hurts!”