Dancing on Ice pro Vanessa Bauer has gushed about her "year to remember" after going public with ex-footballer boyfriend James Rowe, with a series of sweet photos of their trip to Lapland.
Ahead of the start of Dancing on Ice 2025, Vanessa, 28, posted on Instagram, telling her followers she's "the happiest" she's ever been. Her new beau James, 33, used to play for Reading FC, and is now a football coach and FIFA licensed agent.
The pair took a festive trip to snowy Finland, where they could be seen snuggling up in a log cabin and beaming while posing for photos together against the snowy backdrop. Alongside the sweet snaps, Vanessa wrote: "A pull between feeling the happiest I’ve ever been but the moment I fly home for Christmas a different reality kicks in.
"I believe that the pulls between my upbringing, our families' loss and the beautiful life I get to live now is not a burden but in a way it can be seen as a blessing. And I certainly am grateful for my family and the 25 years I got to know my dad."
She pondered: "Perspective has created the person I am now, to keep me grounded, driven, to know life in its many different ways and remain resilient. Gratitude is an understatement and I’ll retain the discipline to keep growing my luck. Anything is possible and love and magic truly is everywhere."
Vanessa later shared a collection of videos and photos from 2024 and added: "A year to remember."
It's only six months since Vanessa split with her last partner, Dan Underwood. She and business owner Dan called time on their relationship after just nine months, with a source telling the Sun at the time: "Vanessa and Dan are still on good terms and are friends, but their job takes them to different parts of the world and they have struggled with the distance. They realised they better off as friends for now, but still have a lot of love and respect for each other."
Meanwhile, with the start of Dancing On Ice looming, the line-up already has the likes of Olympian Steve Redgrave, EastEnders ' Charlie Brooks and footballer Anton Ferdinand. But one star has specifically requested to be paired with someone other than Vanessa, according to reports.
After the professional skater's fling with Joey Essex on the 2023 series, Dan Edgar of TOWIE fame has said he doesn't want to be paired with her, despite the fact she's reached the final five times. In a bid to stay loyal to his mate Joey, Dan, 34, didn't want to get involved. A source told the Sun : "Dan didn’t want anything to distract him from the competition and he didn’t want to have to worry about what Joey was thinking. Why create any problems when it’s easily avoided by asking for a different dancer? Insiders say it was discussed as part of his discussions about joining the show and didn’t cause any problems."
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