Fans have raised concern for "fragile" former S Club star Hannah Spearritt after she appeared in an interview ahead of her Dancing on Ice debut.
The 42-year-old singer is skating with professional Andy Buchanan for the ITV show, which is due to return on Sunday.
Ahead of her participation in the competition, Spearritt - who shot to fame in the late nineties in the pop band - appeared on ITV chat show, Loose Women.
She discussed taking part in the show and how training had helped her with various health issues - including anxiety and an autoimmune condition where symptoms include vertigo, fatigue and brain fog.
She also spoke about pulling out of the S Club tour following the death of bandmate Paul Cattermole, who died suddenly almost a year ago.
On the show, host Nadia Sawalha said: "You were going to do the reunion last year weren't you with S Club 7 but made the decision, which is absolutely right for you, to pull out of it..."
Spearritt replied: "Yeah, I think S Club 7 unfortunately will never ever be the same again. It just, unfortunately, wasn't the right time for me to continue."
Sawalha then asked: "So is doing Dancing On Ice a part of that to sort of get well physically, mentally?"
Singer and actress, @hannahspearritt will be skating her way into the studio to tell us why she has signed up to this year's series of Dancing On Ice ⛸️🧊 pic.twitter.com/8ZN5HnFOqi
— Loose Women (@loosewomen) January 11, 2024
Spearritt continued: “Yeah, I mean I didn't know that obviously I was going to be doing it at that time. My health sort of, yeah, it was struggling a little bit with different symptoms, I went to see this doctor, who actually put me on this sort of like new treatment.
"I won't go into the details as it's really scientific. The symptoms [of autoimmune disease] had ramped up, I went to see him and the treatment was working really well. But then, obviously, my body was ready for exercise and I was like: 'Okay, what can we do?'
"So anyway, Dancing On Ice, and it just felt like the right thing."
Speaking about how training had helped her, the singer added: “It's been great for anxiety because you have to focus. I can't be thinking about my phone or anything!"
However, fans voiced concern about the singer’s appearance on the show.
On X, formerly known as Twitter, one person said: “I love Hannah to bits, she was always my fave S Clubber, but she seems very nervous and fragile. I’m worried about her doing Dancing On Ice.”
Another added: “Poor Hannah doesn’t seem good. Feel for her.”
Also among the 2024 Dancing on Ice line-up are radio presenter Adele Roberts, West End star Amber Davies, Olympian Greg Rutherford, former Coronation Street star Ryan Thomas and EastEnders star Ricky Norwood.
Dancing On Ice returns on Sunday at 6.30pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
