Anton Ferdinand says Dancing on Ice gave him back his identity after quitting football Retired football ace Anton says he knew nothing but soccer until he retired in 2019, having joined the East London club’s academy at nine.
“If there’s anything that I can say about Dancing on Ice, and how good this process has been for me, it’s that I really have this sense of being myself back again.” Anton, 39, said he was lucky to be able to go from retiring as a player straight into a job with his football agency – but nothing compared to the adrenaline of being on the pitch.
He says: “Standing in the tunnel, getting ready to go out to perform on the ice and then finishing, it was very exhilarating for me that first week.” Anton, who is 40 next month, reflects: “I don’t feel like I’m turning 40 in my mind but my body was telling me a few things over the last two months of training.
“She’d say, ‘The minute you start getting out of the house is the minute you’re going to start feeling better’.” The structure of Dancing on Ice and learning new skills were life- affirming for him.
“But when you’ve retired you’ve got to put your own structure in your day, which you’ve never been taught to do, and that is what I found the hardest.” Anton credits wife Lucy Cornell and their three young kids with picking him up when he felt low.
