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Anton Ferdinand might have hung up his football boots, but this weekend he will be swapping them for the ice skates as he stars in the latest edition of ITV’s Dancing On Ice.
Holly Willoughby and Stephen Mulhern return as hosts this year, with the latter having taken over from Philip Schofield in 2022, with a host of celebrities set to take to the rink.
Ferdinand, 39, will be known to football fans for his lengthy Premier League career, during which he played for West Ham United, Sunderland and QPR between 2011 and 2013.
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Since he quit playing football in 2019, Ferdinand, brother of former Manchester United and England defender Rio, has been a regular on talkSPORT, Sky Sports, BT Sport, and IMG. He also fronted the BBC documentary Anton Ferdinand: Football, Racism, And Me.
Speaking ahead of his appearance on Dancing On Ice, he said: “I decided to sign up for the show because it’s a challenge first and foremost.
“I’m in a new phase of my life since retiring from football and one of the things I’ve missed about playing is the structure it gives you. Dancing On Ice will give me that focus but I’m also doing it for my daughter because she loves dance and performing arts.
“My son always had my football to shout about so this will give my daughter and me something to share.”
John Terry racism storm
Despite a storied and stellar career which saw him play in the Premier League on more than 200 occasions, Ferdinand was involved in an on-field spat with then Chelsea captain John Terry which hit the front and back pages.
In October 2011, while playing for QPR, both Ferdinand and Terry exchanged abusive words to one another before TV cameras picked up the latter appearing to aim a racist slur at the former. He is alleged to have called him a “f****** black c***”.
Ferdinand in the immediate aftermath admitted he didn’t know what Terry had said and only learned of it, when his wife showed him footage on her phone of the incident. A member of the public complained to the police and Terry, who was stripped of the England captaincy as a result, subsequently faced a criminal charge for using racist language.
Terry’s defence was that he was repeating language he thought Ferdinand had used and was not using it as an insult. In July 2012, Terry was cleared after the judge stated the evidence given by the prosecution was not strong enough, adding: “It is therefore possible that what he [Mr Terry] said was not intended as an insult, but rather as a challenge to what he believed had been said to him.”
Two months later, however, the FA reached a different verdict and found Terry guilty of using racially abusive language.
Speaking on the BBC, Ferdinand detailed the horrors that he and his family suffered in the aftermath. “It was hourly,” he said of the abuse. “My mum’s house was targeted with missiles. I got sent bullets in the post.
“When it happened, I think I was on over 200 games in the Premier League. I think I played 10 more after the incident – and that was my lot. I had to go and play in Turkey. I came back and went down the leagues.”
Ferdinand has said he “beat himself up” over not going public about it at the time and that not speaking out was in stark contrast the values he said his mother had instilled in him growing up.
“My mum was a white woman who fell in love with a black man,” he added. “My mum endured racism – people spitting at her, spitting at us in the pram. She went through that because she loved her children.”
Anton Ferdinand and John Terry exchange some harsh words
Terry has said he tried to reach out to Ferdinand in the aftermath of the incident but he declined to respond. Terry also declined to appear on the documentary ‘Anton Ferdinand: Football, Racism, And Me’, citing that he had moved on with his life and that he didn’t want to bring something up on TV which had previously been settled in court.
Terry said on Simon Jordan’s Up Front podcast: “I’ve tried to speak to Rio, who doesn’t want to talk to me at all. I’ve seen him on the beach in Dubai and he refused to speak to me. I think it could have been addressed and dealt with a lot better if I’m honest.
“I tried to make contact with Anton that evening after the game. And I basically got shut down instantly from all of them.
“I knew Anton, we were mates, we knew each other and always got on well. Obviously, I got on well with Rio. We could have done something that was more powerful than what came about in the end. And that’s probably my disappointment because it [racism] is in the game.
“Clearly in the stadiums and all of that now that we need to get out for sure. We could have done something very powerful as a group of players, not only us but everybody else I think at the time.”
Family life
Ferdinand has kept his private life just that for the vast majority of his career.
His familial relations in sport are well documented, with his brother Rio enjoying a high profile due to his time playing for Manchester United, West Ham, Leeds United and England.
His second cousin, Les Ferdinand, is a former England international and ex-Newcastle United striker, while Maidenhead United player Kane Ferdinand is also his cousin.
Closer to home, Anton married his wife, Lucy Cornell, in a private ceremony back in 2016. The pair shares three children with his wife, 11-year-old Flynn, seven-year-old Lilah and two-year-old Farron.
“I’ve taken her on the ice,” Ferdinand said on Fubar Radio of his daughter in the build-up to the show. “Along with my eldest son. They absolutely love it. I’d love my daughter to get into it. The discipline side of it, for me, as a parent, I’d love my daughter to get into it.
“She’s only seven so she has no fear at the moment. And she’s theatrical, she loves ballet, she loves dance, so it could be ideal for her!”
‘Raging’ feud with Love Island star
Love Island’s Chris Hughes had a TV tiff with Ferdinand while shooting for a Channel 4 programme.
Last year the pair took part in Don’t Look Down, a show where celebrities faced their fears for Stand Up to Cancer. Despite forging “great friends and getting on well with everyone”, Hughes lifted he lid on one challenge which saw him flip at Ferdinand.
During one particularly daunting task, Ferdinand pleaded with him not to reveal how scary it was to the others who were yet to go.
However, Hughes ignored the request and heightened his co-stars’ fears instead. Ferdinand, about to jump himself, overheard and sharply told Hughes to “Shut the f*** up”.
Hughes, who now fronts horse racing coverage, recounted the tense moment, telling the Daily Star: “The girls were asking me how it was and he hadn’t done it yet. So I’m just telling them and Anton could hear the conversation and he likes to go in his own zone before a challenge because he struggled with his heights as well. And he said ‘Chris, just shut up’ and I was already stressed by that point and my water bottle had to take a flying leap. But now Anton and I are very close, so it’s all good now.”
Speaking on GK Barry’s Saving Grace podcast, which he joined alongside Ferdinand, Hughes reflected on the incident and shared more details, including how he threw his water bottle against the mountain in frustration. He said: “It can be a bit demoralising when you don’t complete a challenge… I was annoyed at myself because I knew when you said ‘Chris, shut the f*** up’. I took that personally because, in my head, I was flapping anyway. I didn’t realise he was there listening.”
Anton added, revealing his perspective: “I wasn’t watching you or listening, I was leaning over the barriers trying to avoid it and focus on what I was about to do. Because I was thinking I can’t do this one and I could hear you saying that ‘It’s the worst thing’ and I just lost my s***.”