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As she takes to the ice with Love Island’s Chris Taylor, skater Vanessa Bauer opens up on the sad loss which saw her ‘struggling’ – and how she rediscovered her inner strength
Dancing On Ice star Vanessa Bauer has shared her heartbreak following a family loss.
As fans prepare for the glittering skating show to returns to our screens tonight, professional skater Vanessa opened up about how thrilled she was to be back. The 28-year-old German skater has certainly made her mark on the series since joining the line-up in 2018, winning in her first year with X Factor singer Jake Quickenden in her first year and has reached the final multiple times, most recently with Made In Chelsea’s Miles Nazaire in 2024.
But away from the glitz and sparkle of the ITV skating show, where she is taking to the ice with Love Island star Chris Taylor, Vanessa has suffered her fair share of heartache, namely, the death of her beloved father Marco, following a brave, seven-year battle with cancer – something she admits is still heartbreaking to think about.
Her dad died in 2021 and to honour his memory, and raise awareness for children’s bereavement charity Grief Encounter, she joined a five-day charity trek in Slovenia last October for the charity., which helps young people navigate the loss of a loved one.
Recalling the trek, she told OK!: “It was very emotional. I started working with Grief Encounter last year after I sadly lost my dad to cancer three years ago. I’m now at a point where I believe I’m healed enough to help other young people and pass on the message that you can come out the other side of the grieving process and be able to live a happy life. Apparently, in the UK, one child in every classroom will experience a family bereavement before the age of 16.”
She adds: “It was an empowering moment. Even though my dad battled illness for seven years, it still felt sudden when we lost him – and I struggled for those first couple of years. The trek was challenging because it brought it all back, but I found strength speaking about it too. It also gave me the opportunity to connect with people who were going through the same thing.
And Marco, Vanessa reveals, couldn’t have been proud of his daughter and her impressive career. “Oh, he and my mum have always been so proud and he just loved watching me on the ice. He’d always say his biggest achievement in his life was bringing up my younger brother and me, and seeing us living really fulfilled lives. That’s what was important to him.”
Last October 1, Vanessa posted a devastating update on her social media revealing her father had died. The pro skater said she was ‘hurting so much’ as she paid tribute to him and vowed to ‘dream bigger, work harder and find happiness’ as he always wanted her to. She wrote on Instagram: ‘Last week I lost my dad. It hurts so much but dad always wanted us to chase our dreams and goals and never get distracted from how difficult things were at home – for the past 6 years… I didn’t speak about what we were going through since seeing us fulfil our dreams gave my dad strength while battling one therapy after another. He was in pain but he was ready to fight, he certainly wasn’t ready to leave, at all.’
Vanessa went on to say that her dad had hoped to become a grandfather one day and ‘grow old’ with her mother.
For more information about Grief Encounter, visit griefencounter.org.uk. Dancing On Ice kicks off on Sunday 12 January, at 6.30pm on ITV
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