Dancing On Ice star Carley Stenson admits she is struggling with 'mum guilt'

Dancing On Ice star Carley Stenson has candidly discussed how she is struggling with 'mum guilt' while away from her baby daughter Skye.

The Hollyoaks actress, 40, who shares her 19-month-old daughter with her husband Danny Mac, didn't think she could appear on the ice skating show because it would mean more time apart from her little girl.

However despite finding it hard, Carley revealed she was able to 'figure it out' with the support of Danny and her family and friends.

Carley has got off to a flying start in the competition so far, after topping the leaderboard with the highest score of the series so far on Sunday night.

Detailing how she deals with being away from Skye, Carley said: 'I feel awful when I'm not with her. Mum guilt is real – it's part of my DNA now.

'I remember my first day back to work, when Skye had a rash. I got off the Tube and I could have gone left to work or right to go home, and I had to ring my mum and say: 'Please tell me what to do.' It was horrible.

'But I knew Skye was with my mother-in-law, who is a nurse, so she could not have been in better hands.'

Carley went on to say that they are trying to keep life as normal as possible for their little one, despite it feeling 'chaotic' at times.

The contestant, who is partnered with Mark Hanretty, revealed that Danny is her biggest cheerleader and has been so excited for her Dancing On Ice journey.

The performer, who recently appeared in the play Dial M for Murder, went from working full time to having a baby during the pandemic.

During Sunday night's show, Carley looked elegant in a silver costume as she skated effortlessly across the ice with her professional partner Mark.

The touching performance scored them a whopping 32 out of 40 points, the highest score of the series so far.

The judges were all in agreement, scoring the pair 8's across the board and dubbed the performance 'beautiful'.

Ashley then jokingly said: 'When I put in 8 I thought I'm going to be the highest, I can't wait to give you all the praise!' 

Earlier this month, Carley admitted she was both 'nervous and excited' to be judged by pal Oti Mabuse prior to her first performance.

Former Strictly pro Oti, 32, famously paired with Carly's husband Danny Mac, 34, in the 2016 series of Strictly Come Dancing coming runner-up, with the trio since remaining friends.

And speaking ahead of her Dancing On Ice debut, former Hollyoaks actress Carley told how Oti has insisted that she wouldn't be 'holding back' on her comments just because they are pals.

While Carley has also told how she has her eyes on the final as she wants to equal if not go one further than her husband in their respective competition shows.

Chatting to MailOnline and other press about facing judge Oti, Carley said: 'I'm really nervous and excited about what Oti is going to say because obviously she danced with Danny! 

'She's fierce, she's a fierce friend and she's already said to me, "I'm not gonna hold back Carls, just because we're friends!"'

Detailing how though she's apprehensive, she still wants to be critiqued like everyone else, Carley added: 'But I want to be judged by Oti, Oti's amazing. So I want full Oti! 

'I'm scared that I've said that now! I'm ready... no I'm not ready for her at all!'

Meanwhile, the ex soap star - who played Steph Dean - gushed over the support she gets from former co-star Danny as she juggles rehearsals and their baby daughter, while adding that he liked to remind her of how well he did in Strictly.

She explained: 'He's massively supportive. He's like, "come on Carls, this is your time now don't worry about me and Skye, I've got it covered, focus on you!" He is great like that. 

'But then he also does add in: "I was runner-up though babe!" So I have to beat him in that sense! 

'So if I just said that if I make the final we'll be equal and it'll be fine! But it will be un though!'

In addition to doing well to beat Danny, Carley also told how she wished to perform well for the sake of her pro dance partner Mark Hanretty.

On whether she and her fellow skaters were in it to win it, she explained: 'I've said and in God's honest truth, I want to be in it for as long as possible because I don't want the experience to end. 

'It would be beautiful to win, especially for Mark.  It would make no difference to me, though that would be lovely, but Mark, you know would have got got me there. So it's...  I don't want to leave early.'

Dancing on Ice returns Sunday January 29, 6:25pm on ITV1 and ITVX.