Charlie Brooks breaks silence on new boyfriend saying Dancing On Ice ‘helped her trust again’
EASTENDERS legend Charlie Brooks said she has learned to trust people again – thanks to her stint on ITV’s Dancing On Ice.
The beloved actress beamed as she spoke to The Sun after finding love with her new TV producer boyfriend six years after her heartbreaking split.
The 43-year-old, loved for playing Janine Butcher, made her new romance public as she cosied up to producer James Fuller during a walk in London last month.
James later added his own snap of him and Charlie holding hands alongside a love heart emoji.
Asked this week if James will come to watch her braving the ice this weekend, the EastEnders star told us: “Maybe, we’re still early days!”
The producer, known for working on a string of high-profile adverts, is believed to have met Charlie last summer.
It comes just as Charlie joinind Dancing On Ice and she said the show has transformed her life – teaching her valuable lessons about trust and opening up to people again.
The soap icon has been training hard for the ITV skating competition with her professional partner Eric, but it’s not just her moves on the ice that have improved.
She revealed how the experience has helped her grow emotionally and personally.
When asked how Dancing On Ice has changed her life, Charlie said: “The lessons I’m learning on the ice, I swear to God, like the parallels I’m having in my own life…
“to surrender into the ice, not being resistant, like lean into me, trust him. Don’t put blocks up.
“I feel like there’s been quite a lot of unblocking and growth, connection and heart opening. It’s been amazing.”
Charlie also revealed how those lessons have helped her in her personal life, saying she has been “open to meeting people in a way that maybe I wasn’t before.”
Her new romance marks Charlie’s first public relationship since her split from Ben Hollington, her boyfriend of six years, back in 2018.
Charlie shares a daughter, Kiki, with Ibiza club owner Tony Truman, whom she split from in 2007.
Despite their separation, the pair maintained a strong co-parenting arrangement, with Tony living in a flat above Charlie and her ex Ben.
In 2021, Charlie revealed that Tony was emotional about her breakup with Ben, admitting he “cried” when the relationship ended.
And she described how the trio remained incredibly close while raising Kiki together.
Speaking on Yahoo UK’s White Wine Question Time podcast, she previously said: “My ex partner Ben, who I was with for five or six years, who’s an amazing human being, you know, we woke up on Christmas Day together, all of us.
“Tony would come down, we’d all get into bed and open the presents together with Kiki, cos she adores Ben, and I think it can be problematic.
“I think he probably has more issues with that sort of thing than I do. I’ve been single for four years, so that’s the longest I’ve ever been single.
“Then I was with Ben before that for five or six years, who was just really accepting. Tony absolutely adored him, we all went on holiday together.
“Tony cried when me and Ben broke up. He actually cried.”
The actress briefly reprised her role as Janine Butcher, leaving Walford once more in 2022, with the soap villain pregnant with Mick Carter’s baby.
N-ICE BREAK
The star took a break from her stage role in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang to take part in DOI but plans to return to it later this year.
On making a comeback as Janine on EastEnders, she said: “I’m going straight back into Chitty for a while, and then I really probably need a little bit of time off.
“And then we’re in talks about another theatre project at the moment, so I don’t know yet. We’re just, I’m biding my time. So yeah, who knows.”
The 2025 lineup includes Coronation Street‘s Sam Aston, Traitors star Mollie Pearce, The Only Way is Essex’s Ferne Mcann and Dan Edgar, Hollyoaks star Chelsee Healey Sir Steve Redgrave, stand-up comedian Josh Jones and footballer Anton Ferdinand.
Dancing On Ice starts Sunday at 6.30pm, live on ITV1, ITVX, STV, STV Player.
Dancing On Ice 2025 full line-up revealed
EastEnders legend Charlie Brooks
Traitors finalist Mollie Pearce
Coronation Street favourite Sam Aston
Olympic legend Sir Steve Redgrave
Towie’s Ferne McCann
Comedian Josh Jones
Springwatch presenter Michaela Strachan
Towie’s Dan Edgar
Love Island’s Chris Taylor
Hollyoaks actress Chelsee Healey
Ex-Footballer Anton Ferdinand
Paralympian Dame Sarah Story