Everything you need to know about gay comedian and Dancing On Ice star Josh Jones
Josh Jones is a Mancunian comedian who will be paired with Tippy Packard for Dancing on Ice’s 17th season. (ITV)
As Dancing on Ice returns to ITV on Sunday (12 January), the latest line-up includes comedian Josh Jones.
ITV announced in October that the funnyman would be joining the show, with Jones opening up about his lack of skating experience.
“I did it once for a date years ago and I wasn’t very good. I was holding on to the railings the entire time, and we aren’t together now,” he joked.
“My dancing isn’t great either. For a gay man, I have no rhythm. I struggle to clap along to a beat, so this will be fun.”
The comedian has appeared on several UK TV shows, including 8 out of 10 Cats and CelebAbility. Here’s everything you need to know about him.
When did Dancing On Ice star Josh Jones get into comedy?
Josh Jones grew up in Failsworth, Greater Manchester. He decided to give stand-up comedy a punt while he was studying at Salford University, it wasn’t meant to be a long-term career.
He told the Manchester Evening News: “A load of my mates were doing stand-up and I was the last to do it. No one has ever taken me seriously.”
It was only after a few amateur shows, and receiving some advice from a guest lecturer, that Jones considered he might have a future in it.
“It was really nerve-racking and being dead nervous when you first start out. You do gong shows, like the one at [Manchester comedy club] the Frog and Bucket, where you’ve got five minutes, but the audience have cards and if they don’t like you, you get ‘frogged off’ and that’s brutal,” he said of his early days on the circuit.
Jones cut his teeth at gigs in working men’s clubs and rugby clubs, as well as other small venues across the north west, with older crowds who didn’t always receive his jokes and sexuality too well.
He likened it to doing gigs “with your parents’ mates”, adding: “I did a gig for farmers in Yorkshire and as soon as I walked on, this old bloke said, ‘Not for me’, picked up his chair and turned around. All I’d said was ‘hello’.”
How did Josh Jones become famous?
Jones was a finalist in the BBC New Comedy Award in 2019 and made his television stand-up debut in 2020 on Jonathan Ross’ Comedy Club.
After that, his career really kicked off, and in 2022 he embarked on his debut tour, Waste of Space, at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
When did Josh Jones come out?
Josh Jones came out as gay at the age of 19, and much of his early career ā and his comedy act now ā focused on his sexuality and “crudes jokes about gay sex”, according to an interview with the Manchester Evening News.
He had been “taunted and teased” about his voice from a young age.
“Not even the fact that I’m gay, but the fact that I sound so gay, I’ve had this all my life,” he said. “People have been taking the p**s out of me for the way I speak all my life. If I do TV, you get people being like: ‘Oh, he’s putting that voice on’, but I’m not. This is just the way I speak.”
Who else is appearing in Dancing on Ice?
Twelve celebrities were announced but only 11 will be appearing after cyclist and swimmer Sarah Storey was injured during rehearsals.
“Absolutely gutted to have my Dancing on Ice training interrupted in this way, just as my first routine was really coming together. An awkward stumble with my left foot stuck on the ice sadly led to me fracturing my ankle,” Storey wrote on Instagram.
The remaining cast members are Towie stars Ferne McCann and Dan Edgar, model Mollie Pearce, former Olympic oarsman Steve Redgrave, soap stars Sam Aston and Charlie Brooks, former footballer Anton Ferdinand, Waterloo Road star Chelsee Healey, former Love Island star Chris Taylor, and TV host Michaela Strachan.
Dancing on Ice begins on ITV1 at 6.30pm on Sunday (12 January). It’s anticipated that the first episode of the new series will feature a tribute to RuPaul’s Drag Race UK winner The Vivienne, who appeared on the show back in 2023, making it all the way to the final. The Vivienne died on Sunday 5 January, aged 32.
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