Ria Hebden smiling
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Ria Hebden on ‘really traumatic’ injury that left her fearing for her safety during stint on axed ITV show

She needed stitches and root canal!

Lorraine star Ria Hebden, who features on The Chase Celebrity Special tonight (Saturday, June 28), previously opened up about a “traumatic” injury she suffered when she was younger.

Ria’s memories of the injury seemingly resurfaced ahead of her stint on Dancing On Ice back in 2022.

Ria Hebden smiling
Ria was on Dancing On Ice in 2022 (Credit: CoverImages.com)

Ria Hebden on ‘traumatic’ injury

Back in 2022, during an interview on Lorraine, Ria, 42, opened up about needing stitches after an accident as a 12 year old. Speaking to the show’s host Lorraine Kelly, Ria explained that she had flashbacks to the injury when she first took to the ice during training for Dancing On Ice.

I know the physical pain when I fall flat on my face.

“For me, I actually slipped on a wet floor years ago and fell face first and nearly knocked my teeth out, I had to have 12 stitches in my lip,” she said. “It was really traumatic, root canal surgery, all of that. I know the physical pain when I fall flat on my face,”  she said.

The TV star continued, explaining how her past injury affected her training for the show. “So at the very beginning it was something that I really feared when I first started skating,” she explained.

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A post shared by Ria Hebden (@riahebden)

Dancing On Ice training fears

“So I told Lukasz [Różycki, her pro skating partner] about that from the beginning. He then really took his time to work to build up my confidence to feel safe doing those scary things and now I feel much better about it,” she continued.

She also opened up about how difficult learning to skate was.

“It’s a huge learning curve, you’re learning the moves, learning how to skate. From a psychological point of view you’re learning how to balance, because how you hold yourself and position your weight is so key with ice skating. If you put your weight in the wrong position just for a second it can throw your balance off completely and you can really hurt yourself, so that’s been a real challenge,” she then added.

Ria Hebden and Lukasz Rozycki on Dancing On Ice
Ria didn’t last long on the show (Credit: ITV)

Ria’s Dancing On Ice stint

Unfortunately for Ria, despite all her training, she didn’t last very long on the show, becoming the second celebrity to be booted off the show in week three. The show itself followed suit a couple of years later when it was axed by ITV.

Read more: Dancing On Ice replacement ‘revealed’ as reality show’s 2025 season ‘pushed back to 2026’

Catch Ria on The Chase Celebrity Special tonight (Saturday, June 28) at 7pm on ITV1 and ITVX. 

Movie Week: Ria and Łukasz skate to Into The Unknown | Dancing on Ice 2022

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Robert Emlyn Slater
Freelance Writer