Ex-footballer John Fashanu is set to join the line-up for Dancing on Ice 2023.
The TV presenter will be paired up with 43-year-old Alexandra Schauman for this year’s competition.
No stranger to reality TV, John, 60 appeared on the second series of I’m A Celebrity, where he made it to the final.
But what do we know about the TV presenter and football legend? And how will he fare on the ice?
Read on and we’ll fill you in…
Who is Dancing On Ice star John Fashanu?
John was one of the biggest footballers in the 1980s and 1990s, when he played for Wimbledon.
Born in the 1960s in Kensington, John played as a centre-forward from the age of 16, in 1978, until 1995.
His career stretched across two decades, but most notably included a stint at Wimbledon, in which he won the FA Cup in 1988.
John experienced racist abuse at the start of his career. He was forced to clean the toilets at the Norwich City ground when he was an apprentice.
He also received racist abuse from Millwall fans before being transferred there.
Speaking to the Mirror, John said: “On the first day in the changing room no one would shake my hand. All I could feel was hostility. The only person to greet me was manager George Graham. Great man.
“The first match was hell. The Millwall crowd hated me. Training was not much better. All the players were against me.
“When I wasn’t touching the ball one of the players used the N-word. So I threw a punch and he threw one back. Then all the players pitched in and started beating me up. Back in the changing room, my clothes were cut up.”
What happened to John’s brother Justin Fashanu?
John’s brother Justin Fashanu was also a footballer from 1978 to 1997. He was known by his early clubs to be gay, before bravely coming out publicly in later years.
But Justin, who was the first professional footballer to come out in 1990, went on to be shunned by younger brother John.
John even offered his brother £75,000 to keep his sexuality a secret to save the family from embarrassment.
In 1998, Justin tragically took his own life.
John has since spoken about his regrets.
In an interview with the Sunday Mirror, John admits he blames himself.
He told the news outlet: “If anyone was to blame for what happened, it was me. I shunned my brother. If I was like that with him, what was everyone else like?”
Justin tried to help John understand
Justin had tried to demonstrate to John how he felt before he died.
The pair had been sitting on Brighton in 1985, when they dug a hole in the sand. Justin, who was on loan to Brighton at the time, told his brother to lie in it.
John explained: “He started piling on sand until only my head was poking out. It hurt. I was struggling to breathe. Then he just left me there. When he finally came back I was in tears. He said: ‘Now you know what it feels like to be me every single day.’
“He said it was like always being squeezed. And for the first time, I understood what it meant to be both Black and gay at that time.”
Ahead of the controversial Winter World Cup at the end of 2022, John spoke about how he believed the Qataris should educate themselves on LGBT rights.
“Just as Justin made me understand that day, our fans can help the Qataris look again at their own position on LGBT rights. The World Cup should be an opportunity to educate.”
Is John Fashanu married?
John has reportedly been married three times, but his current relationship status isn’t officially confirmed.
He divorced his last wife in 2015, with his daughter Amal having quite a low opinion of his ex – Abigail Onyewelu.
Amal, 34, told the Sunday People her former stepmother was manipulative, claiming she’s dubbed ‘the black widow’ in Nigeria.
She told the news outlet in 2015: “While they were together I went from seeing my dad once a month to once a year. He vanished from his children’s lives.
“When I called to find out how he was and asked him to fly to London to see me, he would just say he couldn’t talk.
“I could sense Abigail was in the background, controlling him.”
He has two sons and two daughters, all four of them are grown up.
John Fashanu on Dancing on Ice
So how does John feel about getting his skates on and competing?
He said: “I’m so excited to be a part of Dancing on Ice! I don’t think it’ll come as a surprise to people that I’m very competitive – I am definitely in it to win it.
“And this may be one of the scariest things I’ve ever signed up for but I couldn’t be more ready for the challenge!”
Good luck, John!
Dancing On Ice is on Sunday (January 22) at 6.30pm on ITV1.
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