Olympic legend Eddie ‘The Eagle’ Edwards is among the Dancing On Ice 2024 line-up.
Ski jumper Eddie, 60, was drafted in for DOI after former Gogglebox cast member Stephen Lustig-Webb was eddie.
Eddie is teamed up with pro skater Vicky Ogden for his stint on the ITV series.
But could Eddie – whose plucky underdog status has been celebrated ever since he represented Great Britain at the 1988 Winter Olympics – really be in with a chance?
An unruffled Eddie doesn’t feel he has anything to prove. Although he’s not on the show to make up the numbers. Eddie told ITV: “I’m now the oldest person in the show by quite a margin. I guess I’m going to just fly the flag of the 60s plus and say, ‘We are not on the scrap heap yet. We’re going to be just as fit and strong and agile as the 30-somethings.’
“I don’t want to put too much pressure on myself – I could go out in the first round. I could fall flat on my face and that’ll be it.”
Read on for more essential Eddie ‘The Eagle’ Edwards information, answering the questions DOI viewers are typing into Google.
Dancing On Ice 2024: Eddie ‘The Eagle’ Edwards profile
Why is Eddie ‘The Eagle’ Edwards famous?
Eddie was just 13 when he got the skiing bug, during a school trip. Within a few years, he was racing with the British national team. However, he soon switched to ski jumping – and in 1986, the then-22-year-old plasterer wanted a tilt at serious competition.
But Eddie lacked backing, a coach, and equipment. Furthermore, GB hadn’t ever competed in the event.
Amid claims Eddie slept in his mum’s car when times were tight as he trained, he is said to have recalled: “When I started competing, I was so broke that I had to tie my helmet with a piece of string.”
Eddie went on: “On one jump the string snapped, and my helmet carried on farther than I did. I may have been the first ski jumper ever beaten by his gear.”
And by the time Eddie made it to the 1988 Winter Olympics, Italian skiiers donated a new helmet, and the Austrian team slipped him some skis. Eddie did not enjoy success at the event – but he quickly became a tabloid favourite.
He claimed: “I was a true amateur and embodied what the Olympic spirit is all about.”
Eddie, whose life was the subject of a biopic in which he was played by Taron Egerton, also won the first series of reality diving show Splash! in 2013 and was Rubber Chicken on ITV’s The Masked Dancer in 2021.
Is Eddie ‘The Eagle’ Edwards married? Does he have a wife or partner?
Speaking with ITV recently, Eddie noted he hopes his partner will come along to see him perform on the DOI 2024 skating rink. However, he did not identify his partner by name.
But back in October 2023, the Daily Star reported Eddie has a girlfriend.
“I love her to bits,” he was quoted as saying.
Eddie – who revealed that dancing is his “secret passion” – noted he hadn’t had much success before that using dating apps.
“I gave them up in the end,” he added. “I thought I might meet somebody when I was dancing because I was dancing between two and five nights a week. And then I met somebody and we’ve been dating over a year now. Things are going really, really well. I’m really, really happy.”
Before his current reported relationship, Eddie was marred for 13 years to wife Samantha Morton.
View this post on Instagram
Is Eddie Edwards on DOI divorced?
However, Eddie and Samantha’s divorce was confirmed in 2016.
They reportedly met when he was a part-time radio presenter – and married in Las Vegas in 2003, in a drive-through ceremony at the Little White Wedding Chapel.
The former couple share two daughters – teenagers Ottilie and Honey.
Eddie was quoted as telling The Sun in March 2016: “It’s been the worst two years of my life. The darkest, definitely.
“I wouldn’t wish it on anybody. But [blank] happens. You’ve got to think life can give you some bad knocks, no matter how hard you’re knocked you’ve got to get up.
“We are still relatively close and I see the kids as much as I can.”
DOI star Eddie ‘the Eagle’: What is his net worth?
It has previously been reported Eddie made more than £500,000 the year after the Winter Olympics. However, it is claimed that amount was held in trust for him due to rules concerning amateur sportspeople.
And in December 2020 it was reported he “earned hundreds of thousands of pounds” for the film about him – but “lost most of it when he divorced his wife”.
Eddie told the Mail: “I got 3 per cent of the profits and the film grossed about $45 million [£32 million] at the box office. I am still not sure how much I have made because I am waiting for the final royalty payment. They are paying me in instalments – one payment I received was for £300,000. That was quite a pay day.”
All Famous Birthdays claims that Eddie has a net worth of around £3.9m. However, these are just reports.
Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and let us know what you think of this story.