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Dancing on Ice: Monty Panesar pulls out! Find out his celebrity replacement

The former cricketer sustained a serious injury during rehearsals

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Gemma Strong
Online Digital News Director
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Monty Panesar has been forced to pull out of Dancing on Ice. The former England cricketer sustained an injury while training for the ITV show, and will be replaced by former Fame Academy singer Lemar, it has been confirmed. A post shared on the Dancing on Ice Instagram page read: "We are super sad to announce that owning to an injury in training Monty Panesar has had to withdraw from #DancingOnIce 2018. You'll be sorely missed Monty – rest up and get better soon. R&B smoothie Lemar will be taking his place, and will be skating with our French firecracker of a pro, Melody."

monty panesar dancing on ice

Monty Panesar has been forced to pull out of Dancing On Ice

Monty was one of 12 celebrities confirmed for the upcoming ice skating series, alongside the likes of Jake Quickenden, Donna Air and Love Island's Kem Cetinay. Lemar, meanwhile, had been a reserve for the show, and is said to be thrilled to be taking part. "Monty suffered a nasty fall during training and has badly injured his ankle. It's a quite serious fracture and he's out of the competition. He's been told there's no way he can be part of the new series, which he's absolutely devastated about," a source told the Sun. "Lemar was obviously gutted to hear about Monty's accident but is thrilled to have got the call up to the show. He's been putting in plenty of hours of training."

GALLERY: Dancing On Ice 2018: Meet the professional dancers 

lemar dancing on ice

He has been replaced by former Fame Academy star Lemar

Lemar found fame in the 2002 series of Fame Academy, and went on to launch a successful pop career. He will be joined on the ice by the likes of Coronation Street stars Brooke Vincent and Antony Cotton and Bake Off's Candice Brown. Jayne Torvill, Christopher Dean, Ashley Banjo and Jason Gardiner are set to judge the 2018 reboot, which will be hosted by TV favourites Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield.