Libby Clegg is first visually impaired contestant to appear on Dancing on Ice

Double Paralympic champion Libby Clegg is one of this year’s participants in ITV’s Dancing on Ice and is the first ever visually impaired contestant to take part in the programme.

Libby, who is registered blind with Stargardt disease, will be helping to raise vital awareness of macular disease as she will be skating in the 12th series of the programme, which officially starts in January. She has been paired with Scottish ice dancer Mark Hanretty, who has represented the United Kingdom.

The 29 year old, won silver at the 2008 Summer Paralympics and gold in Rio at the 2016 Paralympic Games. She has recently taken a short break from competing after giving birth to her first child, but is gearing up to compete at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo next year.

Talking to the BBC about being the first visually impaired contestant in the show, she said: "There are positive and negatives. The positives are that I won't be able to see if my head is going to hit the ice, but getting balance and coordination is going to be a bit trickier because I won't have any focus points, but it's just something I am going to have to work on.

"It's an opportunity for me to get in front of a different audience, and that's the main reason I wanted to do it.”

Dancing On Ice launches January 5 on ITV.

Read more about the full celebrity line up here.