Dancing on Ice star Becky Vardy slams 'disgusting' partying footballers for breaking Covid rules

DANCING on Ice’s Rebekah Vardy has laid into partying footballers breaking Covid rules — and says hubby Jamie has been home-schooling the kids instead.

Rebekah, 38, revealed that the Leicester striker is not just good at working out defences — he can solve complex mathematical equations as well.

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The mother of five said: “Jamie’s teaching maths. He’s teaching algebra and telling them the square root of whatever. I don’t know the square root of anything.

“He has the most incredible mathematical brain. Honestly, you would never imagine it. People think footballers are thick, and they’re stupid, and they don’t have a brain. But Jamie is so intelligent in so many different ways.

“He’s really shy, until you get to know him. He’s just down to earth and normal. We want to keep our kids grounded and in the real world. They have to work for everything they’ve got.”

However, she slammed the minority of professional footballers who think they are “above the law” by going to parties in lockdown.

There have been calls to suspend the Premier League after a number of stars repeatedly broke Covid regulations over the festive period.

Some 36 players then tested positive in the last week, forcing a number of games to be postponed at the last minute.

Rebekah said: “I think it’s a privilege to be in the position that they find themselves in. Yes, they work hard, but at the same time they need to set an example.

“It’s not going to go down well with Joe Bloggs if a footballer is having a lockdown party and off seeing his mates, while he can’t see his family.

“I think the behaviour of certain people has not shone football in a good light.”

However, she was quick to point out that not all top-flight stars are Covidiots. She added: “You see a couple of them and you think they’re all doing it. But they’re not.

“There’s a lot of international players that have families they’ve not seen for months on end, that are in different countries, that are separated.

“Just because there’s a couple of Covidiots, as everyone likes to call them, doesn’t make them all the same. And we shouldn’t tar them all with the same brush.”

Rebekah has been training for this year’s Dancing on Ice, and will perform in the first show tomorrow night alongside pro partner Andy Buchanan.

She credits the hours of gruelling practice for giving her the best figure she has had since her early 20s, when her eldest daughter was born.

Rebekah — mum to Megan, 15, Taylor, ten, Sofia, six, Finlay, three, and Olivia, one — said: “It’s incredible. I never ever imagined my body would ever be back to how it was pre any baby.

“I never ever thought that would happen or wanted it to happen. I was really comfortable in my skin.

“I feel great, and I don’t even care if I put all the weight back on afterwards. But exercise to me is a really important part of my life.

“I love the way I feel after that. It makes me feel alive. It’s refreshing and, if I am ever having a really crappy day, I’ll exercise and I’ll automatically feel better about things. It’s the release of all those endorphins.”

However, Rebekah is less excited at the prospect of dancing — and falling — in front of millions.

She said: “I am absolutely petrified. I’m the most easy-going person but I am getting really scared. There’s just no room for f***-ups. I have a feeling that I’m going to be the one who has a big blunder.

“But it’s all part and parcel of it and I just want to go out there and do Andy justice because he has worked his backside off the last few months.”

Training with Andy has also made her try to shift her mindset.

She said: “I’ve had to learn how to listen, which hasn’t come easy. Before he’s even finished a sentence, I’m trying to do what he says. I think I’ve managed to master the art of patience. I’m all or nothing.”

Becky says she also fears performing as a “character” — which she compares to being asked to speak French. She said: “Performance doesn’t come naturally, as we know I’m not a performer.

“I very much wear my heart on my sleeve, and what you see is what you get with me. There’s no airs and graces.

“But when I have to play a character, I find that quite challenging, because I don’t have any experience.

“I’ve built myself up to be really resilient, to never show emotion. So when you’re then asked to show that, it’s like being asked to speak fluent French, at 60 years old.

"I’m really not a crier, like I really struggle with the emotional side of things. I’m trying to soften it, but it’s difficult.”

Becky, who married Premier League winner Jamie, 34, in 2016, also says the intense training schedule has given her mental health a boost after a tough period.

In 2019, she and Wayne Rooney’s wife Coleen had a row which looks set to culminate in the High Court later this year.

She said: “Skating has taken on a whole new meaning for me. I’ve got something to really, really focus on.

“It brings back so many happy memories of skating with my dad as a child. He taught me how to lace my boots, and how to put them on. When I’m skating, it’s just my focus for that time.

"So, I don’t have any distraction. And my life is really busy. I’ve got five kids, six if you want to include Jamie.

“I’m a full-time mum as well and also a teacher at the minute, and being able to escape the reality for a couple of hours is just so rejuvenating and amazing.

“When I’m on the ice I just feel free. Free of any worries, free of any concerns and it just feels like I’d imagine what it would feel like to be a bird, and fly.

“I’m in a really good place mentally right now. I’m in a place where I don’t have to have a big front, or show that everything is OK 24/7.

"It’s good for people to know you don’t need to feel OK all the time.

"It’s good to see people in the public eye, not pretending to be unaffected by everything.

“We’re human at the end of the day. I’ve been really trying to work on that on myself lately.

“If I don’t feel OK, that’s OK. I went through years of being told showing emotion is a weakness, but it’s not. It’s one of the hardest things to do.

"And that makes you vulnerable and being vulnerable is actually really courageous.”

Dancing on Ice and its BBC rival Strictly have seen a number of love splits after contestants grow close to their on-screen partners.

But Becky insists Jamie has no such concerns.

She said: “This is my opinion, but if you’re going to cheat, then there’s something wrong with your relationship in the first place.

"It doesn’t matter what show you’re doing or who you’re doing it with, if you’re not in a good relationship then things are going to happen.

“I’m in a really good relationship. I love my husband, he loves me, and we trust each other.

"I know I’d never do anything and neither would he. When you’re in a relationship like that, life’s pretty good.”

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