Rufus Hound is the final celebrity confirmed for the upcoming series of Dancing on Ice.
Comedian and actor Rufus, 41, completes the cast of 12 performers who will get their skates on for the live shows in January 2021.
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Who is Rufus Hound?
Rufus is best known for his wild facial hair and appearances on panel game shows like Celebrity Juice and Never Mind the Buzzcocks.
He is also famed for treading the boards in the West End.
The comedian and actor is one of the 12 celebrities performing on Dancing on Ice 2021.
Is Rufus Hound married?
Rufus – real name Robert James Blair Simpson – met Beth Johnson in 2006 at The Reading Festival and described it as love at first sight.
He says: “I married my wife after going out with her for four months. And I knew from the moment I saw her that she was the one.”
The pair married at Little Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas in April 2007, with not a single guest in attendance.
They have two children together named Alby and Hilda.
Rufus revealed just days before the DOI announcement that he and his wife recently split up.
He said in a statement: “In April, Beth and I made the sad decision to end our marriage.
“We will always have much love and respect for each other. Even though we are separated, we will always remain the best of friends.
“As always, our family will remain our number one priority.”
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Why did Rufus Hound leave Celebrity Juice?
Rufus disappeared from Celebrity Juice in 2012, after four years on the panel.
He said he left to focus on other projects but, in a podcast with Richard Herring a year later, he admitted it was a massive argument with mega-gob Kim Woodburn.
Rufus believed the production team hadn’t supported him which brought about his sudden departure.
He said: “She was chatting away to Keith Lemon and he asked her: ‘Have you got much coming up?'”
“She said: ‘I don’t think the people who make TV would want me anymore’. And I said, genuinely, honestly: ‘Don’t do yourself down. People will always need a cleaner.’ She looked at me and said something along the lines of: ‘When I want the opinion of a fat man, I’ll stand outside Gregg’s’.”
Ouch!
Rufus admits the comment really hurt him.
He said: “It was a proper eff you. I just sort of laughed to myself that here she was having a dig because I genuinely hadn’t meant it as an insult. It really spiralled out of control.
“It ended up really horrible.
“She basically kept saying I was fat. But I did end up saying: ‘That’s a bit rich coming from a woman who looks like a face drawn on a deflating party balloon’.”
He explained that Kim “wouldn’t leave the building without an apology”, and Rufus only did on the condition that he could have a copy of the tape. Which he never got.
Dancing on Ice returns to ITV in January 2021
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