Darren Harriott: who is the stand-up comedian set to appear on ITV’s Dancing on Ice?

Dancing on Ice is back on ITV this weekend and eleven celebrities have been practising their figure skating skills ahead of the first live show.

Starting on Sunday 15 January, stars such as Joey Essex, Patsy Palmer and Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu have been in intense rehearsals to get ready for the competition.

The live show sees the eleven celebrities demonstrating their figure skating routines in front of the four judges,Jayne Torvill, Christopher Dean, Ashley Banjo and Oti Mabuse.

Previous winners of the show have been Joe Swash and Ray Quinn and last year’s skating champion Regan Gascoigne.

Who is Darren Harriott?

Joining this year’s Dancing on Ice line-up is comedian Darren Harriott.

Darren Harriott was born on 1 September 1988, in Oldbury near Birmingham.

He had a tough childhood with his father being imprisoned for drug dealing offences when he was 11 years old.

What is Darren Harriott known for?

Darren Harriott is a stand-up comedian that won the Best Newcomer award in 2017 and Best Show Award in 2019 at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

During his career, he has made multiple television appearances including Live at the Apollo, The Last Leg and Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice.

Darren also recently appeared on Dave’s Campaign Against Living Miserably to discuss his father’s incarceration.

The comedian was also a regular panellist on Love Island’s Aftersun, where he commentated on the reality show’s highlights.

What happened to Darren Harriott’s father?

Darren Harriott has spoken openly about his father’s imprisonment for drug dealing offences and said he felt “completely lost”.

At the age of 11, Darren’s father Patrick died by suicide whilst he was serving a sentence in prison.

Darren told the MailOnline: “At that time, when I was 14 or 15, I felt like I had nothing to lose. I could easily have stabbed someone over absolutely nothing.”

At the time, the stand-up comedian found himself involved in his own gang that began to take the culture more seriously and all began carrying knives.

Darren then turned away from his own gang in 2004 on New Year’s Eve when they turned on the comedian and kicked him to the ground.

The stand-up now credits comedy with saving him from falling into a life of crime.

Is Darren Harriott related to Ainsley Harriott?

Despite having the same surname, stand-up comedian Darren Harriott is not related to television presenter Ainsley Harriott.

Darren and his family are from Birmingham and Ainsley was born in Paddington in London.

Ainsley is a television presenter who is most known for his cooking based programmes including Ready Steady Cook.

What has Darren Harriott said about his Dancing on Ice appearance?

Darren Harriott will be skating with his dance partner Tippy Packard and the pair have nicknamed themselves ‘Team Dippy’.

The pair have been sharing the highlights of their rehearsals on their Instagram pages for their followers to see.

A video posted to Darren’s Instagram last week showed the pair almost falling whilst skating on the ice.

Darren captioned the post: “First time I have seen genuine fear in Tippy’s eyes.  a few weeks back training.

“See u on the ice in 2023! Team Dippy!”

Professional skater Tippy responded to the video with: “we need a couple bloopers in order to nail our first performance! So excited for everyone to see what we have been working on!”