My time on Dancing on Ice was a living nightmare – the way the women behaved backstage was shocking, says Kimberly Wyatt
EMOTIONAL Kimberly Wyatt described competing on Dancing On Ice last year as a “dream” after landing another perfect score for her final performance.
But one year later, the Pussycat Dolls singer has told of the cattiness behind the scenes that turned the telly competition into a living nightmare.
The mum of three, now appearing in Channel 4 show Don’t Look Down in aid of Stand Up To Cancer, described the female rivalry backstage as “horrible” and added that “women revel in a woman failing”.
Kimberly, 41, was one of 12 contestants on the show, including S Club pop star Rachel Stevens, Love Island’s Liberty Poole and Corrie legend Sally Dynevor.
And when asked about Dancing On Ice, she said: “Women hate women. And there are instances where the women do not want to root for other women doing well.
“There are often times where women revel in a woman failing, which is horrible.
“There’s a competitive nature that’s born in women.
“We are born to compete to get a man, so I feel there’s this competitive nature between women that needs to be resolved.”
Kimberly’s husband, model and broadcaster Max Rogers, 41, backed up his wife as they discussed conflict resolution in an interview, saying: “You found that recently.
“The Dancing On Ice experience showed us how much work needs to be done with women supporting women.”
When American-born Kimberly signed up to the ITV show she instantly received a viewer backlash because she has been dancing since the age of seven and earned a ballet school scholarship at 14.
She then did speed-skating as a contestant on Channel 4’s The Jump, where celebrities learned a different winter sport every week.
It is her past experience that is believed to be behind issues with the other 11 DOI hopefuls.
A month after the show started, The Sun on Sunday revealed that Kimberly was left feeling “awkward” when she discovered she had been excluded from a WhatsApp group used by other contestants.
Sources said she had no idea the chat even existed and felt a little snubbed when she learned some members of the cast — which also included presenter Ria Hebden, paralympic athlete Stef Reid, rugby player Ben Foden and dancer Brendan Cole — had been messaging each other.
A source said at the time: “She did feel a little excluded, especially as she has been getting on well with the others.”
Kimberly and her pro-skater partner Mark Hanretty, 38, became favourites to win the winter skating contest and consistently scored top mark ten.
Judge Oti Mabuse described the singer as a “graceful skater”, while Jayne Torvill said her final performance was “beautiful”.
Host Holly Willoughby added: “You can tell from your face how much that meant to you. Dreams can come true.”
Fighting back tears, Kimberly replied: “They really can. It’s been the most amazing experience. I’m so grateful. The whole production has been a dream. I have the most amazing partner.”
Yet despite all the predictions, and a nailbiting March final, Regan Gascoigne, a professional dancer, and his partner Karina Manta beat Kimberly to the trophy.
Fans complained she was “robbed” coming in third place.
On comic Russell Kane’s pocast, Man Baggage, she said: “I have started finding ways to deal with the conflict, and part of it is you have to speak up about who you are. You can’t help who you are, we are all homo sapiens, built in many different ways for many different reasons. But you do have to have a space that is safe enough that you can be honest about it.
“So even in our marriage, we have spent a lot of time getting to a place over the years where I will just speak. That doesn’t make the conflict resolution any easier.
“But it means it is out in the open and we have to deal with it together, rather than me going to the studio and dancing it off then exploding a week later.”
She added: “I wish I could be more fiery and know exactly how I am feeling, and have a big blowout and be over it.
“But unfortunately I am not made up like that. I am a touchy-feely, emotional being who takes time to go through the layers of whatever.
“I’m a very internal person. I started dancing when I was seven because I had lots of traumas and I didn’t know how to enjoy the reflection, looking back.
“In the dance space, I could get lost in music and create these leaps and turns and jumps and all sorts. I could find pride in that, and I didn’t have to speak and talk about the trauma I was going through.
“I could just stuff it all in and find ways to let it out.
“I think when you’re married, even in our vows, you have to talk and you have to be honest about how you feel and you have to communicate. So I’ve had to work on it.”
Kimberly, who lives in Surrey with Max and their children Willow, eight, Maple Lyla, five, and Ford Senna, four, says the show put the spark back into her marriage.
Now she is challenging herself in Don’t Look Down for Stand Up To Cancer, where celebrities including ex-footballer David Ginola and former champion cyclist Victoria Pendleton tackle a terrifying high wire.
Kimberly revealed she is taking part to “make a difference” after seeing people she loved with cancer.
‘Rivalry is inevitable’
She also says the stress of performing at the highest level should never be taken lightly — and admitted that it once put her in hospital during her time with the Pussycat Dolls.
She said: “When I am faced with conflict, I run. I go in the other direction. I hate drama and conflict.
“It’s a trigger in me and gives me physical things that can happen. I can get really sick.
“Even in the Dolls, there was so much conflict it took me to a place where I had to be sent to a hospital in the States and off tour.
“And nothing was wrong with me, it was the anxiety and the stress in my brain. If you don’t find ways to deal with that and communicate it — and get through it — then it will literally take you down.”
Kimberly, who grew up in Missouri in the American Midwest, joined burlesque troupe the Dolls in 2003 along with Nicole Scherzinger, Melody Thornton, Carmit Bachar, Ashley Roberts and Jessica Sutta.
They achieved worldwide success with the singles Don’t Cha, Stickwitu and Buttons.
And they were one of the most successful girl bands of all time, with 55million records sold worldwide before they disbanded in 2010.
Kimberly previously clashed with lead singer Nicole, 45, and a planned reunion in 2022 was cancelled.
Today she admits she has mixed feelings about women in power.
She told the podcast: “Sometimes a female leader can overdo it because she’s trying to tap into a masculine energy she is not used to. Of course a woman wants to make it to the top, but there is only room for one, so that is already in our DNA.”
Kimberly feels that female rivalry is sadly inevitable.
She added: “It’s like going through Customs. You know that if there is a guy, he is probably going to be kind to you. But more times than not, if you see a woman, they’ll go to the depths of everything to try to find something wrong.
“It’s power in both senses. Men want to show their power by helping you get through, while women want to show their power in that, ‘I’m going to do my job really well’.”