Who is Dancing On Ice pro skater Vanessa James?
This talented pro skater has bagged some top medals during her career - including international ones
DANCING On Ice 2024 is heading into its grand final.
One of those finalists is Greg Rutherford and his pro ice skating partner, Vanessa James.
Who is Vanessa James and how many skating competitions has she won?
Professional ice skater Vanessa James joined Dancing On Ice in January 2024.
She joined familiar faces like Vanessa Bauer, Colin Grafton, Mark Hanretty, Brendyn Hatfield, Sylvain Longchambon and Tippy Packard who all returned to the rink this season.
Born on September 27, 1987, in Canada, Vanessa has enjoyed incredible success on her skates.
She has competed in pairs skating for the US, Great Britain, France and Canada.
While competing for France, she won two European Championship medals – bronze in 2017 and gold in 2019 – while paired with Morgan Ciprès.
The pair also secured gold in the 2018-2019 Grand Prix finals, and bronze at the 2018 World Champs.
They also competed at the 2014 and 2018 Winter Olympics, after Vanessa took part in the 2010 Games with previous partner Yannick Bonheur.
In 2022 she won bronze at the 2022 World Championships representing Canada with Eric Radford.
Veronica and Eric represented Canada at the 2022 Winter Olympics.
Dancing On Ice isn’t her first TV debut.
She has previously appeared on CBC’s Battle Of The Blades – a Canadian figure skating reality show and competition.
Is Vanessa James on TikTok and Instagram?
Vanessa is very active on social media, and often posts about her time on Dancing On Ice.
The skating star likes to keep fans and followers up to date over on her Instagram account @vanessa_james_sk8 – where she boasts an impressive 56k followers (as of March 2024).
After it was announced she would be joining Dancing On Ice she told fans on Instagram: “AND SO IT BEGINS!!! I feel like I haven’t OFFICIALLY posted about this crazy and extraordinary journey called Dancing On Ice! @dancingonice
“You have seen me teach hockey players how to figure skate in the past.
“Now I’ve turned it up a notch and I am both honoured and thrilled to be teaching the one and only 2012 Long Jump Olympic Champion @gregjrutherford how to figure skate!!
“He’s athletic, he’s motivated, he‘s a powerhouse and utterly hysterical… BUT can I get him to master the art of dancing on ice?
“Well… stay tuned to find out!
“We are definitely having a lot of fun in the meantime!”
Who is in Dancing On Ice final?
Since the show started in January 2024, the Dancing On Ice line-up has been slowly whittled down.
From sports legends to reality TV stars, ITV lined up a number of famous faces – but now there are just four finalists.
Going into the final are:
- Greg Rutherford – retired track and field athlete – and pro partner Vanessa James.
- Miles Nazaire – reality star known for Made In Chelsea – and pro partner Vanessa Bauer.
- Adele Roberts – former Big Brother star and radio presenter – and pro partner Mark Hanretty.
- Ryan Thomas – soap star who is best known for Corrie – and pro partner Amani Fancy.
Fans can catch the Dancing On Ice final at 6.25pm on ITV and ITVX.