Siva Kaneswaran credited his late band member for pushing him towards a place on the skating show (Picture: ITV)
The Wanted band member Siva Kaneswaran revealed he was inspired to take up Dancing On Ice’s offer after witnessing the ‘infectious’ courage of his late friend Tom Parker.
The 34-year-old singer explained he was reminded that ‘life was worth living’ after Parker’s death in March following a brain tumour aged 33, and therefore agreed to appear on the 15th series of ITV’s ice-skating competition.
He said he was entering the new year with a mission to face fears and do a lot more things that he hadn’t considered attempting before.
Referencing his friend’s tragic death, he declared: ‘I’ve decided this year to do a lot of things that I’d never do and face my fears.
‘Obviously, this year has been eye-opening for me with Tom and witnessing his courage, which was infectious, to say the least.
‘It reminded me that life was worth living and to take it all and to enjoy it.’
The Wanted band member is paired up with Klabera Komini (Picture: ITV)
Siva reflected on his friend’s death when deciding whether to take his spot (Picture: WireImage)
Siva continued on sharing the tasks he’s set himself: ‘From that, I’ve been making decisions based on that, doing my driving test finally in Los Angeles, booking the flight I wanted to always go on, and signing up to a song-writing degree course.
‘In comparison, it’s just not as scary anymore, all my fears have shrunk.’
Parker, who announced in October 2020 he had been diagnosed with stage four glioblastoma, died at a hospice near the south-east London home he shared with his wife Kelsey and their two children.
Tom Parker died after being diagnosed with a brain tumour (Picture: Shutterstock)
Siva is part of the UK pop group The Wanted (Picture: Getty Images)
His bandmates, Nathan Sykes, Jay McGuiness, Max George and Siva were pallbearers at his funeral.
The musician was partnered with professional ice-skater Klabera Komini on ITV’s skating fixture and commented he would ‘love’ for his bandmates to watch him skate as it is the ‘scariest thing’ he has ever done.
He added: ‘It’s always nice to get someone there in your corner in case you fall.
‘Jay has obviously won Strictly Come Dancing so I need that winning attitude.
‘I’d love for all the boys to come down and support me at some point. Me and Jay have done Hunted and we won that, and Jay has won Strictly Come Dancing so we’re a team of winners – it’s expected of me to win.’
The highly anticipated series also features Love Island winner Ekin-Su Culculoglu who will make her skating debut with professional partner Brendyn Hatfield.
Dancing On Ice returns on January 15 at 6.30pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
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‘This year has been eye-opening for me.’
