After a star turn on Dancing On Ice, the ’90s rap artist is about to set
off on the show’s UK tour. We had a chat over ice cream with the ice man –
aka Robert Van Winkle, 43
Where: The ITV studios
When: Thursday, 2pm
We’re really sorry, we couldn’t find any vanilla ice cream, so we’ve gone
with chocolate – is that OK?
But my name’s Vanilla Ice, not Chocolate Ice. It’s meant to be ‘A vanilla ice
with Vanilla Ice’ not ‘A chocolate ice with Vanilla Ice’, that’s the whole
point.
But it’s melting everywhere… Can we just go with ‘A chocolate ice with
Vanilla Ice’?
[Looks vaguely disgruntled] I guess so.
All right stop, collaborate and LISTEN… Sorry, couldn’t resist. Is it
annoying when people do that?
No, I love it! I’m proud of that song – I protect it, it’s my diamond. When
they asked me to dance to it on Dancing On Ice I nearly said no. And then I
killed it!
Where is A1A Beachfront Avenue and have you been back recently?
I live there! The A1A runs all the way from Miami up the coast of Florida.
It’s funny because people come from all around the world and they drive on
that road and they just go [mimes driving]: “Ice, ice…” It’s like I made
it famous.
So how many times a week do you have that song quoted back at you?
A few times. But more here than in the US. In the States they like Ninja Rap
so I get: “Go ninja, go ninja, go…”.
Oh yeah! You once said that working on the second Teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtles film was one of the coolest experiences of your career…
Totally. I love the Turtles, there’s no shame in my game.
Did you like working with Jedward?
I talk to them every day. They’re massive Vanilla Ice fans and I love them,
they’re awesome.
Do you feel like an adopted Brit?
For sure. I have a house in Surrey and a vintage Jaguar. Although when I first
started driving here I’d go round the roundabouts about four times before I
figured out how to get off.
Do you have any contact with your ex Madonna these days?
Nah. She’s a sweetheart but that was 18 years ago. We had a good time, but out
of respect for my wife I just don’t talk about all that. It’s kind of
un-classy.
Since Dancing On Ice and now the tour, is music taking a backseat?
I’ve got a new record out soon, called WTF, which isn’t naughty. In this case
it stands for ‘wisdom, tenacity and focus’. It’s techno hip hop – like Lady
Gaga meets The Prodigy meets Vanilla Ice.
Can you teach us to rap?
I can try. You have to learn how to rhyme with sense and tell a story. It’s
called freestyling. It takes a lot of practice. I’ve practised every day
since I was 14 years old.
How’s this: “So I’m just chilling with Vanilla Ice, um, it’s going OK, he’s
really nice…”
What you’re doing is poetry. You’re rhyming, but now you have to put it in a
rhythm: “I’m chillin’, wid Vanilla Ice, he’s my man, he’s kinda nice…”
We’ll stick to the day job. You have ‘wide open’ tattooed on your knuckles.
What does that mean?
Take everything in life full blast, pedal to the metal. And you can reverse it
[he switches his hands over so it reads ‘open wide’]. I could be a dentist!
Tell us a secret…
I love DIY and renovating homes. I’ve been doing it for 15 years and it’s
basically how I’ve done well and not ended up like MC Hammer.
- Vanilla Ice appears in the Dancing On Ice tour from April 9 to May 1. To book
tickets, visit Dancingonicetour.co.uk.
The damage
Coffees drunk: 1 cappuccino – two sugars (brown)
Food eaten (other than ice cream): 1 salad
Number of times he quoted Ice Ice Baby lyrics: 3 (and we loved it every
time)
Number of times he smeared ice cream on our face: 1
WORDS: CLAIRE COLEMAN PHOTOGRAPHY: ALAMY, LANCTON
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