Dancing On Ice star Antony Cotton WILL skate this weekend despite partner fearing she'd 'killed him' in horror crash
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Coronation Street star Antony Cotton WILL skate this weekend despite fracturing ribs in a horror crash.
The 42-year-old collapsed on the ice in agony when a move with dance partner Brandee Malto went wrong in training on Wednesday and looked to be initially out of the competition.
Brandee admitted she was "so scared" and feared she had "killed" the soap actor because we was unable to breathe.
Brave Antony, who confirmed he is already back in training with the help of painkillers, vowed to perform on Sunday as he has "never phoned in sick" during his whole career.
(Image: ITV)
(Image: ITV)
Speaking on This Morning, Antony said: "First of all it's my choice and I want to carry on. It's front and back [ribs].
"It was nobody's fault, there were two of us in this tango. We fell backwards and Brandi fell on top and crushed me.
"In all my career I've never phoned in sick one, not ever."
(Image: REX/Shutterstock)
(Image: ITV)
Brandee said: "I was so scared. I really thought I'd killed him because he couldn't breathe. He was laying on the ice telling me to get help. I was happy that he took a breath but I didn't want to leave him."
The Corrie star explained that he spent 10 minutes on the ice in the middle of the rink before being rushed to hospital.
Despite the "horrendous pain" he is determined to carry on so that his and Brandee's hard work doesn't go to waste.
(Image: ITV)
Antony revealed there was no one around to help so he was "snatching breaths" to make sure people knew he was still conscious.
He said: "It happened very quickly. I knew we were going down. I thought I didn't want to bang my head as were were going down with some force. I cradled Brandee and we crashed.
"I knew it was bad but the worst part was I physically couldn’t breathe."
(Image: ITV)
In a statement given on Thursday night, Antony explained exactly what happened.
Antony said: “Brandee and I were training for this week’s show when we lost our balance and both fell backwards onto the ice.
"Luckily, Brandee was uninjured but I was taken to hospital where I discovered I had fractured a couple of ribs, front and back.
“I’d like to thank the staff at Silver Blades ice rink in Widnes, the doctor and nurse at The Alexandra Hospital in Cheadle, and Brandee, who never left my side throughout.”
He added: “The show must go on and as such, we are going to do our best to continue in the Dancing on Ice competition this Sunday.
"Hopefully the painkillers and sequins will see us through.”
(Image: REX/Shutterstock)
Antony has improved slightly having been one of the weakest performers and managed a score of 20 at the weekend which got him to seventh place out of 11 on the leaderboard.
But this injury will restrict the amount of lifts he can do and could make it harder to avoid the skate off.
An ITV spokesman said: “Antony fell on the ice during training and as a precaution was taken to a nearby hospital.
"He has since been released and is now resting ahead of the live show this weekend.”
*Dancing On Ice airs on Sunday at 6pm on ITV