Dancing On Ice favourite Vanessa Bauer is kicking off 2026 in a love bubble, having got engaged to her footballer boyfriend.
The professional skater, 29, went public with her romance with James Rowe, 34, in December 2024, having hit it off on a first date in London after James slid into her DMs.
She and the former Reading FC player were in Lapland at the time they shared their first selfies, with Vanessa declaring she felt ‘the happiest I’ve ever been’.
And now they’re taking things to the next level, as James proposed in the most gorgeous setting – one that was extremely fitting for his bride-to-be.
Taking to Instagram to announce their news, Vanessa shared photos from their winter getaway to the Canadian Rockies, with James getting down on one knee in the middle of a frozen lake – while in skates!
They were surrounded by mountains and snowy-topped trees as the sun hit the icy surface of the Vermilion Lakes in Banff, Vanessa beaming down at her life partner as he asked the all-important question.
She wrote sweetly in her caption: ‘the love of my life. we’re getting married 🤍’
In the comments, fans and fellow TV stars were quick to congratulate the future spouses, with Dame Sarah Storey writing: ‘What a beautiful place to propose ❤️ huge congratulations 🥂’
‘Congratulations ❤️’, commented Strictly’s Karen Hauer, with former Dancing On Ice pro Brendyn Hatfield echoing: ‘Congratulations!👏❤️’
‘Omg so happy for you both!! This is beautiful 🥺 congratulations ✨🤍’, commented Molly Lanaghan, who lifted the trophy in the skating show’s final series with Corrie’s Sam Aston.
Divulging further details of the romantic proposal, Vanessa told OK! Magazine that the whole thing was ‘such a dream’.
‘I’ve wanted to skate on the frozen lakes my whole life, so it was just the perfect place to get engaged.’
To make the proposal even more special, she added that a vibrant sunset appeared while they were on the ice, following a snowstorm during their drive.
‘There was no hint it would be a nice evening, but the skies just opened up to give us the only sunset of the entire six-week trip.’
On saying ‘yes’ to marrying James immediately, she described of the moment itself: ‘I felt he was so far away when he was on his knees.
‘I just wanted to hug him, so I was like, “Yes, of course I’m going to marry you. Now come up here and give me a hug!”‘
The performer and athlete also felt her late dad’s presence after he died in 2021, seven years on from his cancer diagnosis.
She described it as ‘a blessing from nature’, which made the milestone ‘even more precious’.
Meanwhile, the experience was equally emotional for James, who learned to skate in recent months so he could join Vanessa on the ice.
‘I definitely had tears in my eyes,’ recalled the former footie star, admitting he almost gave the game away by being ‘extremely nervous’ in the build-up.
In fact, he had planned to propose not long after he and Vanessa made things official, realising from their trip last December that he wanted to marry her.
‘I started planning it on the flight home. After that, I had to keep deleting things about the engagement from my phone. I had to keep my tracks clean for a long time.’
As for their wedding, the lovebirds are already setting the wheels in motion, saying they don’t want a ‘long’ engagement.
Despite the proposal taking place in freezing temperatures, Vanessa is eyeing somewhere more tropical for the day she actually says ‘I do.’
‘Bali would be amazing, and half my family is from Indonesia, but because we want to have as many loved ones and friends there as possible, I’m not sure whether that would work. But I think it’d be beautiful to honour those roots and get married in a country that both James and I love.’
Vanessa was a hugely popular pro on Dancing On Ice, having joined the ITV show with Jake Quickenden as her first partner.
Her other celeb partners included Love Island’s Wes Nelson, Diversity dancer Perri Kiely, Emmerdale’s Joe-Warren Plant, and Strictly’s Brendan Cole.
In series 15, she finished as a runner-up for the fourth time with Towie’s Joey Essex, whom she dated for nine months.
For the 17th series, Vanessa skated with influencer Chris Taylor, but she sadly had to withdraw due to an injury.
While Vanessa is hopeful that the likes of Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean will attend her wedding, Dancing On Ice itself will not be returning this year.
On 26 March 2025, ITV confirmed that the series would be ‘rested’ in 2026 and that there are currently no plans for another series.
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