Vanessa Bauer is a German-Indonesian professional figure skater, choreographer, actor and digital creator based in London. She is best known for her years on Dancing on Ice, where she became one of the most successful and recognisable professional skaters on British television.
Her full name is Vanessa Putri Bauer. She was born on 23 May 1996, which makes her 30 years old in 2026. She was born and raised in Berlin, Germany, and later built an international career across television, live performance, film, brand campaigns and social media.
Her work now goes far beyond a normal skating career. She has shaped a strong personal brand around the idea of “Skating beyond the arena”, using ice skating as a form of film, storytelling and emotional performance. This has helped her move from competitive sport into mainstream entertainment.
Vanessa Bauer Early Life and Background
Berlin Roots and German-Indonesian Heritage
Vanessa grew up in Berlin, where her skating journey began at a young age. Her background is German and Indonesian, and she often presents herself as an Indo-German actor and figure skater. Her early life was not built on privilege. She has spoken about a modest upbringing and the effort it took to enter an expensive sport like figure skating. Ice skating requires coaching, equipment, travel, costumes and competition fees, which can be difficult for families without a strong financial base.
This early struggle became part of her strength. Instead of leaving the sport, she pushed harder and found ways to keep improving. That hunger later shaped her career on live television, where discipline and pressure became part of her daily work.
Vanessa Bauer Family and Parents
Vanessa has shared emotional details about her family, especially her father. In a heartfelt post, she wrote that her parents would have celebrated 26 years of marriage on 1 February 2022. Her father died before one series of Dancing on Ice, after suffering from cancer for six years. She described his death as deeply painful and said he had always been proud of her achievements. She also shared that he wanted to see her and her younger brothers build families of their own.
Her mother’s name has remained private. Vanessa has shown deep love for both parents, while keeping many personal family details away from wider attention.
Vanessa Bauer Father
Her father’s illness had a major emotional impact on her. She said his final treatment was expected to help him, but it sadly ended his life. Even with that pain, she also recognised the role of cancer research in giving him more time than doctors first expected. This loss later became part of her work with grief awareness and personal wellbeing. It also added more depth to her public image, showing a person who has faced loss while continuing to perform at a high level.
Vanessa Bauer Education and Skating Training
Elite Sports School in Berlin
Vanessa studied at Werner-Seelenbinder-Schule, also known as Schul- und Leistungssportzentrum Berlin. This school is connected with elite sports training in Germany. Her time there helped build the base for her professional life. Figure skating is not only about talent. It needs strict training, balance, strength, music sense and strong mental control. She trained as a serious athlete before moving into show skating, television and film. This background gave her the technical skill that later made her stand out on Dancing on Ice.
German Junior Champion
Before her television fame, she became a German Junior Champion. This achievement marked her as a strong young skater before she entered the entertainment world. She was trained in pairs skating and later used that experience to become a trusted partner for celebrities on live television. Pairs skating requires timing, trust, lifts, control and emotional connection, all of which became key parts of her later success.
Vanessa Bauer Skating Career
From Competitive Skating to Global Shows
After her competitive years, Vanessa moved into professional ice shows. She worked as a Professional Skater at Willy Bietak Productions and as a Professional Skater at Royal Caribbean. Her Royal Caribbean work took her into international performance. She became part of the original cast connected with major ice shows at sea, including work through Willy Bietak Productions. This gave her stage experience before her British television career began. Performing on cruise ships and global stages helped her learn how to entertain audiences outside the competition format. It also prepared her for the speed and pressure of live TV.
Professional Ice Skater at ITV
Vanessa joined ITV as a professional ice skater in October 2017. Her role became much more than skating beside a celebrity. She had to teach, choreograph, perform and manage pressure week after week. On Dancing on Ice, she became known for strong routines, elegant movement and the ability to bring out confidence in her partners. Her time at ITV also included choreography for group routines and live television numbers.
Vanessa Bauer on Dancing on Ice
Winner of Dancing on Ice 2018
Vanessa became a major name after winning Dancing on Ice 2018 with Jake Quickenden. It was her first series on the show, and winning so early made her one of the most talked-about professionals. Her success did not stop there. Over the years, she helped several celebrity partners reach the final. Her professional biography states that she holds the record for mentoring the most celebrity contestants through to the final.
This made her more than a skater. She became a mentor, coach and choreographer under the pressure of prime-time television.
Choreography Under Pressure
On Dancing on Ice, each week brings a new routine, new music, new props and new risks. Vanessa had to prepare celebrity partners who were often learning from the start. She created routines across many styles. Some involved props, some involved flying, and others required emotional acting. Her job was to make each partner look confident, safe and entertaining. This kind of work needs discipline. Live television gives little room for mistakes, and ice skating adds real physical danger. Vanessa built her reputation by handling that pressure with control.
Vanessa Bauer and Miles Nazaire
One of her best-known partnerships came with Miles Nazaire from Made in Chelsea. They skated together on Dancing on Ice 2024 and reached the final. Their chemistry on the ice gained strong attention, but their bond was centred on the competition and performance. Their partnership added another final to Vanessa’s long run of success on the show.
Vanessa Bauer Acting Career
Move Into Film and Screen Work
In recent years, Vanessa has moved further into acting. Her professional work now includes film acting, writing and creative direction. She is represented by Olivia Bell Management and is building a screen career beside her skating work.
Her acting direction fits naturally with her skating. Ice performance already needs emotion, timing, body language and character. Film gives her a new space to use those skills.
The Thursday Murder Club
Vanessa trained and choreographed with Tom Ellis for a performance sequence in the Netflix film The Thursday Murder Club. The film features major stars including Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirren, with Chris Columbus as director. This credit shows her move into serious screen work. It also proves how skating can be used as part of film storytelling, not just as a sport or stage act.
Rise of the Footsoldier
Vanessa is also connected with Rise of the Footsoldier film work. Her professional details mention her as the female lead in Rise of the Footsoldier: Ibiza, with cinema release promoted for August 28. Her career details also connect her with Rise Of The Footsoldier - Retribution, where she plays a lead character. This marks a major step in her acting career and shows her growth from television talent into film performer.
Vanessa Bauer as Choreographer and Creative Director
Creative Work Beyond Skating
Vanessa is not only a performer. She is also a choreographer and creative director. She has created routines for television and worked on major brand campaigns. Her work includes casting, choreography and creative production for campaigns, including work linked with Virgin Atlantic and other global brands. This side of her career shows business skill as well as artistic talent. She understands how movement, image, camera work and story can come together to build a strong campaign.
Skating Beyond the Arena
Her creative concept “Skating Beyond the Arena” has become a key part of her identity. It presents skating in natural spaces, cinematic scenes and digital formats. Her frozen-lake performances became highly successful online. Her professional details state that these performances generated 276 million plus organic views in a single winter season. One viral reel alone was seen by 80 million people. In that post, she wrote that the moment was shared with her fiancé and felt deeply personal. It mixed skating, nature, music, grief, love and freedom in one emotional visual story.
Vanessa Bauer Social Media Career
Digital Audience and Online Reach
Vanessa has built a digital audience of more than 1.2 million followers across platforms. This growth came through skating, fitness, lifestyle, acting updates and cinematic ice content. Her Instagram handle is @vanessabauer_skates. The account shows her as London-based, connected with Olivia Bell Management, and linked with Dancing on Ice. It has shown hundreds of posts and hundreds of thousands of followers.
Her TikTok account also uses vanessabauer_skates, with more than 515K followers and 9.9M likes. Her content often combines skating, emotion, film style and personal life. On X, she uses @TheVanessaBauer under the name Vanessa Putri Bauer. That account describes her as a professional figure skater and choreographer, winner of Dancing on Ice 2018, with Germany and Indonesia in her bio.
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Vanessa Bauer Brand Work
Fabletics Ambassador
Vanessa worked as a Brand Ambassador for Fabletics from April 2019 to February 2025. Her work included monthly social media campaigns across Instagram and TikTok. She also launched a personal co-branded collection with Fabletics and appeared in European e-commerce campaigns, website imagery and in-store marketing. This role fitted her image well. As an athlete, performer and fitness-focused creator, she could connect activewear with real movement and performance.
Fitness and Lifestyle Image
Fitness has long been part of Vanessa’s brand. Her skating life demands strength, flexibility and discipline. Her online image combines performance, wellness, fashion and confidence. She has also spoken about looking after the body through food, training and health. After losing her father to cancer, she urged people to be kind to their bodies and enjoy life fully.
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Vanessa Bauer Age
Vanessa Bauer is 30 years old in 2026, born on 23 May 1996. The German-Indonesian figure skater became famous through Dancing on Ice and her growing screen career in Britain.
Vanessa Bauer Boyfriend
Vanessa Bauer is engaged to James Rowe. She shared the news with emotional words, calling him the love of her life and saying they were getting married. Her viral frozen-lake content also mentioned “my fiancé”, which confirms her engagement status. James Rowe is known through football and sport-related work.
Vanessa Bauer and James Rowe
Vanessa Bauer Husband
Vanessa does not have a husband at this time. The correct word is fiancé, not husband. She and James Rowe are engaged, but there has been no confirmed marriage announcement.
Past Relationships
Vanessa’s earlier relationships have attracted media attention because of her time on television. Her long-term ex-boyfriend was Louis Nathaniel. She was also linked with Joey Essex after their Dancing on Ice partnership, and with Dan Underwood before her engagement to James Rowe.
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Vanessa Bauer Company Record
Vanessa was a director of BAUER GAMAN LTD, company number 11310398. The company had a correspondence address at 7 Bell Yard, London, WC2A 2JR. She was appointed director on 16 April 2018. Her nationality was given as German, and the country of residence at that time was Germany. The company status is dissolved. This means it is no longer active. It should be described as a former company connection, not a current business.
Why Vanessa Bauer Stands Out
Vanessa stands out because she has not stayed in one lane. She started as a German skater, became a British TV favourite, moved into choreography, grew a huge digital audience, entered film and built brand campaigns. Her career is modern because it crosses sport, media, acting and online storytelling. She has used skating as the base, but she has turned it into a wider creative career.
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Conclusion
Vanessa Bauer is one of the most complete skating talents to come from modern British entertainment. Born in Germany with Indonesian heritage, she grew up in Berlin, trained as an elite skater and built her career through hard work rather than comfort.
Her win on Dancing on Ice 2018 made her famous, but her later work made her more than a TV skater. She became a choreographer, mentor, actor, brand creator and digital storyteller. Her “Skating beyond the arena” concept has helped bring ice skating to new audiences through cinematic online content and film-style performance.
Her life also carries emotional depth. The loss of her father, her modest upbringing and her rise through pressure have all shaped her story. Today, she is London-based, engaged to James Rowe, represented by Olivia Bell Management, and building a career that links ice, screen and global entertainment.
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