Bradford actress Jennifer Metcalfe will be turning up the heat in the new series of Dancing on Ice.

Jennifer – Mercedes McQueen in Hollyoaks – is training for the hit skating show which starts next month.

The line-up also includes Kerry Katona, rapper Vanilla Ice, former soap actors Craig McLachlan and Steven Arnold and Loose Women presenter Denise Welch.

Featuring ice legends Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, the ITV show pairs celebrities with professional skaters. Previous contestants, including Wibsey actor Chris Fountain and Hayley Tamaddon, who won this year’s series, have trained at Bradford Ice Arena, but manager Angie Green said none of the celebrities in the 2011 series were training there.

Jennifer, 27, of Holme Wood, attended Scala Kids theatre school in Horsforth. Before Hollyoaks, she appeared in TV shows including My Parents Are Aliens, Where The Heart Is and Emmerdale. She has also worked as a fitness instructor in Bradford.

She said her ice training is going well. “I’m still filming Hollyoaks so the hours are crazy but because I love it so much I don’t see it as a chore,” she said.

“For about six months me and my friends used to go skating twice a month so I can skate forward and turn a corner at a struggle, but that’s it. My upper body is quite weak, I really felt it when we were doing lifts.”

Jennifer is paired with French skater Sylvian Longchambon, one of a new line-up of professionals.

“He’s not strict, he’s exactly how I wanted him to be,” said Jennifer. “I think if he’d come down on me really heavy and started shouting I wouldn’t have responded very well. He’s not too soft though. He makes me work.”

She added: “I don’t really feel nervous yet, just excited. I’m looking forward to my friends and family watching me. My mum was a bit apprehensive when I told her I was doing it, I think she was petrified of the blades and me falling over. But she’s beside herself with excitement now – she’s been designing T-shirts for the live shows!”