Dancing on Ice winner coming to Wolverhampton to star in Greatest Days musical

Well one performer who has certainly taken that approach is dancer, musical theatre star and the winner of the Dancing on Ice 2022, Regan Gascoigne.

The surname is instantly recognisable and yet rather than following in Dad Paul’s footballing steps, Regan trained as a classical dancer at the Hammond Ballet School in Chester, then moved on to Tring School of Performing Arts before eventually heading for the bright lights of London and The Actors’ Class.

Regan’s hard work and determination has been rewarded, as he now has a successful dance and musical theatre career.

He is appearing in Greatest Days, a musical based around the songs of Take That, which hits the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre stage this week. Regan appears as one of the boy band members in the show.

“Although the flavour of Take That is there, in our costumes and performance, we are not named as Take That members specifically, so in the show we are just called The Band,” Regan told me.

“We got to meet Howard, Mark, and Gary when they were having a screening, as the film has just come out. We went and met them beforehand, and they were lovely,” he said.

“They gave us some tips on how to execute the music and told us to just go out there and have fun. We know that we are representing them, which is a massive honour.”

“Us boys get to perform all the Take That songs in the show. Greatest Days is more like a play with music because the storyline is so strong and is the main focus,” he continued.

Which is Regan’s favourite Take That song?

“It is “Pray” because it is one of my solos,” he told me. “It is special for that reason, but I do have another Take That song, which is special to me, which is Never Forget; it has a different meaning to me.” Regan didn’t say why, but then I guess it is personal.

Soap star and TV presenter Kym Marsh and her daughter Emilie Cunliffe star alongside Regan in the show. There must be a very strong bond there, as they play the younger and older versions of their character.

“I can’t describe just how lovely they both are,” he said. “They are beautiful both inside and out. They will be missed as Wolverhampton is their last week in the show for a while, so Saturday night will be emotional.”

Has Kym tried to tempt Regan into the world of soaps?

“I would absolutely love to do a soap!” he said. “I’ve trained as an actor as well having done lots of acting workshops too, so maybe a soap would be my next thing. It is a different skill. Being on stage is one thing but being on camera and being able to portray feelings and emotions in a totally different way, is a skill in itself.”

“You also grow with your character and so I can imagine it would be an amazing job to do,” Regan concluded.

Dancing on Ice was hard work, but how does it compare to being on tour in a musical?

“I don’t think anything will top the feelings I had from being on Dancing on Ice,” said Regan. “You get to be on a TV show, you get to bond with your skating partner, you are learning a new skill and the production of it is massive, so it is huge experience in itself.”

“But then being on tour in a musical, once you have learnt the show, it is cool that we get to be in different theatres with different audiences and different environments all the time, so that’s really fun. With a musical I feel comfortable in my character and can develop it, but with Dancing on Ice every week was a new routine and you had to get into character really quickly, work out where the camera are etc. in literally four days,” he said.

It seems Regan thrives on hard work, but there is so much more to this guy than performing.

Regan is a huge supporter of environmentalism and follows a vegan diet. Does this help with energy for his fitness regime?

“As long as you know what you are eating and then yes it does. When you eat meat, you are putting negative energy into your body as it takes a very long time to digest and so does dairy.”

“Think about it. Animals eat vegetables,” he said. “As long as you get the source of proteins and vitamins from what you are eating, then you are good.”

Regan is also a keen coral reef diver.

“I learnt to scuba dive when I was a kid on holiday. But I kind of get bored just sitting about and I am obsessed with the ocean,” Regan said. “So, I did coral reef research, expeditions and surveys on fish and the coral in the Seychelles. It was off grid living, with no electricity, no hot water, full on jungle living and scuba diving every day. And now I am qualified to work in a dive centre.”

He is adamant that climate change and the way in which we abuse our planet will be our downfall.

“If we don’t start to look after this world, it is going to be completely ruined,” said Regan.

“We all live on this planet, but no one pays respect to it. It will be irreversible soon, so we need to all wake up and realise it.”

Regan’s philosophy on life is “be kind, respect everyone, look after our planet, don’t ever regret not doing something and be happy.”

What a delightful, humble guy with outstanding morals and a gentle soul.

Regan will appear in Greatest Days from now until November 25 with various dates around the country and maybe after a short break, will continue with the show again in 2024. His options are open, and the world is his oyster.

Greatest Days runs at Wolverhampton Grand Theatre from July 17-22.

For tickets visit grandtheatre.co.uk or call 01902 429212.