Robin Leach of Lasvegasweekly.com reports: Rock icon Vince Neil said he's got bumps and bruises all over his body from falling on the ice during his daily 5-plus hours of rehearsals for ABC's upcoming Skating With the Stars premiering Nov. 22. "My right knee has taken some punishment," he told me last night at The Rio, where he hosted his 6th Annual Skylar Neil Charity Poker Tournament.
His 25-year-old dance partner, international gold medalist Jennifer Wester, said, "You have to fall to learn ice skating, but he's a shockingly good student. You will be very surprised and impressed. I am already impressed. When I learned I was getting the bad boy of rock, I thought it was over before it began, but he's been the good boy of ice skating. Vince is humble and very hard working.
"I got the total opposite of what I expected. He's learned and practiced and learned and practiced again and again until it hurts. He really has a shot if he keeps studying and rehearsing like this. I'd heard his reputation, but Vince is completely different to that -- and he'll have the opportunity to show that side of him to viewers." They posed last night for their very first photo together -- showing the Crillion move!
Vince laughed: "It's tough work. Sometimes 6 hours a day on the ice. You fall. It's cold. You hurt. But I'm loving it, and I think we're going to surprise fans and a whole new demographic of moms and grandmothers. I think I'd been on the ice just once since I was 12 years old. So this was a whole new experience that started a few weeks ago. I'm so into it we've even been on ice skating dates! The show, of course, isn't just skating. We have choreographed dance routines to music.
"My only rule has been no feathers. No pink! I'm fortunate because ABC hired my tour designer to do my outfits for the show, so we'll be looking rock smart."
Jennifer has been stretching Vince in long warm-up and cool-down sessions before his skating practice here in Las Vegas. ABC has now built a skating rink in the studio alongside Dancing With the Stars for the program that debuts after the DWTS finale as a 2-hour premiere special to run for six weeks. The set will resemble an ice castle, and the show's first elimination is Nov. 29.
Vince has a Shiprocked cruise to the Bahamas from Thursday through Sunday from Fort Lauderdale to Nassau, Bahamas, with Drowning Pool, Cinderella, Tesla, Sevendust and six other groups. "I lose four days of practice this week, but I will fly direct from the Bahamas to Los Angeles on Sunday and go straight to the rink from the plane to start an intense week before the first show," Vince said.
Jennifer added: "If there was a rink on the boat, we'd have kept up the schedule. But instead, I've given him a lot of homework to do while sailing from Florida, and he's totally promised to stick to the schedule. I know he will. He is really up on this."