Joe-Warren Plant has admitted that the intense schedule of Dancing On Ice has helped him to deal with his break-up from girlfriend Nicole Hadlow.

The 18-year-old had been dating Hadlow, who is more than five years older than him, since the age of 15 but they split late last year shortly after he began training for the ITV series.

In quotes attributed to The Mirror, the Emmerdale actor revealed: "Dancing On Ice has come at a good time for me, physically and mentally, but relationships are hard to deal with and it has helped take my mind off it slightly.

"Having to focus and train all day every day, because even when you're not training you have to take the recovery aspect into terms.

"So it's taken my mind off it, things are still tough to be fair, but I am just focusing on getting the show started and getting into the swing of things."

Media reports had suggested that his closeness to professional skating partner Vanessa Bauer had played a role in his break-up but he denied that they are anything more than friends.

"With a show like Dancing On Ice it's about telling a story to engage with the audience and the judges," he continued.

"So you have to have a certain level of chemistry between you and your partner, so I think everyone has seen we are getting on so well and assumed there is something going on.

"But there isn't, we are just dedicated to the show, we are trying to do the best we possibly can.

"Vanessa has never not been in the final, so she is very driven and competitive, so I think we work well on that together, I am competitive as well."

Dancing On Ice starts Sunday at 6pm on ITV.