Emmerdale star Roxy Shahidi will ‘step back’ from the soap to appear on Dancing on Ice
DANCING On Ice star Roxy Shahidi will be stepping away from the dales to prioritise her training.
Roxy, who plays Leyla Harding, said that Emmerdale has been supportive of her shifting her focus.
Initially, Roxy was worried that she would struggle juggling the soap, skating and being a mum - but a compromise has been made.
"Emmerdale have been really good because I said right from the beginning my priority is Emmerdale," she told Metro.
"That’s my job and I can’t do three things. I can’t be a mum and learn to ice skate and become an athlete and work full time.
"They said to me we haven’t got a massive storyline coming up so we’ll just fit you in. So they’ve allowed me to take that step back in order to focus on Dancing On Ice."
read more on dancing on ice
Emmerdale stars have done well in the competition in previous years, including Joe-Warren Plant, who plays Leyla's son Jacob and former winner Matthew Wolfenden, who played David Metcalfe.
Roxy joked that her whole fictional family have danced, and that she's been given advice from previous stars.
"Matthew just kept telling me it’s going to be really hard work and I’m like 'Thanks Matthew'," she said.
In a strange twist, Roxy's worlds are due to collide as ice dancing legends Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean are set to play a part in a Christmas storyline in the village.
She described the crossover as "weird" but she said it was a "really fun day".
It turns out wedding planner Leyla has a connection to the skating stars and calls in a favour to bring them to the Dales for a special marriage proposal.
Roxy might have an advantage over her fellow castmates as she is a qualified yoga teacher.
A TV insider told us: "Roxy is extremely flexible so she’ll have no problem getting into some of the more demanding positions needed for the difficult routines she’ll have to tackle.”
It seems Roxy jumped at the change when approached by bosses because, having turned 40 this year, she feels more fearless than ever.
“Roxy is looking to embrace new challenges as she enters this latest decade of her life, and this show is certainly that,” says a pal. “She won’t be leaving Emmerdale, but she’ll have a busy few months juggling filming duties with rehearsals.”
When approached by The Sun, an ITV spokesperson said: “The full show line-up will be announced in the coming weeks, so any unconfirmed names are speculation.”
Roxy will be joined by Olympian Greg Rutherford, Coronation Street star Claire Sweeney and Love Island legend Amber Davies.
