Dancing On Ice’s Vanessa Bauer joins her professional co-stars as they rehearse for the show’s launch amid major cast shake-up

It’s only a matter of days before the 16th series of Dancing On Ice kicks off and 12 new celebrities take to the ice for the first time.

And the show’s dancers are preparing for the opening show on Sunday while attending rehearsals on Tuesday.

Vanessa Bauer led the pros as she and fellow skater Mark Hanretty got stuck into the skilled routine involving a series of lifts and tricks.

The champion ice dancer, 27, made it look effortless as she was turned upside down while in the safe hands of Mark, 38.

The full professional line-up for this year’s series was revealed on Monday as a shake-up among skaters saw newcomers Simon Senecal and Amani Fancy join the show.

While Simon teams up with former Love Island winner and West End star Amber Davies, Amani takes to the ice with soap star Ryan Thomas.

In October, it was revealed that fan favorite Matt Evers would not be returning for this year’s series.

Matt was the show’s longest serving skater, appearing in every series of Dancing On Ice since its launch in 2006.

He won the show just once with Hear’Say singer Suzanne Shaw, while in other series he has teamed up with a host of celebrities including Bonnie Langford, Denise Van Outen and Gemma Collins.

In 2020, he made show history as one half of his first same-sex partnership after linking up with Steps star Ian ‘H’ Watkins.

Married couple Alexandra Schauman and Łukasz Różycki have also opted not to return for this year’s series, while Vanessa and Mark are joined by regulars Colin Grafton, Brendyn Hatfield and Sylvain Longchambon.

Vanessa teams up with reality star Miles Nazaire, while Mark shows radio host Adele Roberts the ropes.

Emmerdale star Roxy Shahidi is with Sylvain, Brendyn is with comedian Lou Saunders and Colin is with actress Claire Sweeney.

Also pictured during rehearsals on Tuesday, fellow newcomer Vanessa James put on an impressive performance as she performed a handless somersault with Brendyn’s support.

The six-time French national champion represented Canada at the 2022 Winter Olympics and is teaming up with fellow Olympian Greg Rutherford.

Completing the professional line-up are Vicky Ogden, who will team up with Eddie ‘The Eagle’ Edwards, Andy Buchanan who will take to the ice with Hannah Spearritt, and Robin Johnstone who will skate with Ricky Hatton.

The latest new professional skater Anette Dytrt is with EastEnders star Ricky Norwood.

The skaters huddled as they were joined by Karen Barber and Daniel Whiston, who have returned to the show as Head Coach and Creative Director respectively.

The celebrities and their partners have been rehearsing for months, but it will all come down to their performance on Sunday night so audiences can see how much they have learned.