Dancing On Ice: Brendan Cole snatches the first nine of the series with partner Vanessa Bauer as it's claimed his wife Zoe is finding his stint on the show 'challenging'

Brendan Cole was the delighted recipient of the first nine in this year's series of Dancing On Ice.

The ballroom dancer, 45, graced the rink with professional skating partner Vanessa Bauer, 25, on Sunday night as they exhibited their efforts to Shallow from A Star Is Born. 

The closing dance of the evening earned them an overall score of 33.5, with Diversity choreographer Ashley Banjo awarding them the one-point away from perfection. 

Meanwhile Oti Mabuse scored 8.5 and Jayne Torvill and Chris Dean opted for 8. 

The New Zealand native said: 'It's so beautiful to be on the ice. I watch Vanessa, I watch these skaters doing such beauty. I love it. That was a lovely one.'

Of his mark, Ashley, 33, enthused: 'I had to go there. I know that we are really early on in the competition but for me, it was the interpretation of the music. Elegantly and beautifully performed for me.'

Chris, 63, described Brendan's skating as 'sublime and smooth', but expressed his desire for more content and choreography. 

Oti, 31, chimed: 'Sometimes I feel like less is more. It wasn't full of choreography but it was beautiful, I felt like you were telling a story.  Some things can't be taught and chemistry and emotion is one of them and the two of you have that.'

It was 'beautifully skated' in the opinion of Jayne, 64, but agreed with her skating partner's suggestions for improvement.   

Brendan's second skate comes after it was reported that his wife of eleven years has been feeling 'anxious and emotional and p***ed off at times' during his Dancing On Ice stint.  

While wife Zoe, 37, has been 'fully supportive' of her spouse's decision to partake in the show, she is said to have described herself as a 'Dancing On Ice widow'.

According to The Sun, the former Strictly star rented an apartment in the same block as Vanessa near the Slough Ice Arena, despite his Bucks home being just a 40-minute drive away.

Meanwhile, Zoe and their children Aurelia, nine, and three-year-old Danté were holidaying in their Mallorca holiday home, where the strains of solo parenting had been claimed to take their toll.

A friend of the blogger's told the publication: '[Zoe] is fully supportive of Brendan’s decision to do Dancing On Ice, but it has not been easy looking after the kids by herself for so long while he is skating.

'She has felt anxious and emotional, and p***ed off at times. She has said in the past months that she feels like a Dancing On Ice widow.'

However, the source confirmed that Brendan had been 'checking in' on his family while they were abroad, adding: 'She doesn’t believe he would cheat on her - she would not be with him if she did. But she has found the past few months challenging.'

Last month, following a family getaway, Zoe penned on social media: 'The last three months of solo parenting in a foreign land and heaps of moving around over the last few weeks were starting to take their toll, so to get away was very welcome.'

Since Zoe has returned to the UK, Brendan has reportedly moved out of the apartment and is commuting between their home and the ice rink.  

And while his wife may have been absent for his debut skate earlier this month, sources are adamant Zoe will attend in the coming weeks. 

She is said to be 'grateful' for the work Vanessa is putting in with Brendan - but it can be hard for her to 'see them so close.' 

The source concluded that the mother-of-two would be 'happy' if Brendan was 'a bit more restrained' when he's with Vanessa on camera.  

MailOnline contacted Brendan's representatives for comment.  

Brendan impressed the judges with the 'best first performance ever' as he topped the leaderboard with a total of 30.5 out of 40 points during the Dancing On Ice  launch.

Although he and Vanessa achieved an incredible score for his first routine, he received some backlash online as many viewers pointed out his professional dancer background.

While it was a successful evening for Brendan, it was a different story for TV presenter Ria Hebden and partner Łukasz Różycki, who landed in the skate off after securing 24.5 points.