Hannah Spearritt reportedly wanted to quit Dancing On Ice after the ITV show's gruelling training left her in tears.

The former S Club 7 star, who has an auto-immune disease, was apparently "overwhelmed" by the show which is set to launch tonight (Sunday, January 14).

Despite attempts by the 42-year-old to keep her concerns quiet, showrunners feared she would exit early after she missed a number of rehearsals.

Hannah Spearritt nearly quit Dancing On Ice after the ITV show's gruelling training left her in tears

A source close to the ITV show told The Mirror: “Before Christmas, there was a spell where Hannah was mis­­sing more than one session a week. Losing those hours has a real impact.

"She has found the training harder than she expected and, at times, has been in tears. She has confided in pals about her struggle and told them she wanted to walk away. And while she never voiced this to ITV, the bosses were concerned that she would fall too far behind and pull out altogether.

"Luckily, she has really rallied since Christmas and now seems in a much better place.”

Hannah Spearritt from S Club 7 was named in this year's line-up of celebrities alongside the likes of Olympic gold medalist Greg Rutherford and comedian Lou Sanders.

The source added: “Dancing On Ice rehearsals are gruelling – much more than people realise – and Hannah won’t be the first to struggle. But everyone’s hoping she can hold it together from here and show off everything she’s learned so far.”

Hannah previously stated that the skating show had been really positive for her mental health but revealed that she nearly injured her dance partner when a skate came just "millimetres" to Andy Buchanan's ear.

A spokeswoman for Hannah recently said: “Hannah is loving the challenge and her body is feeling fitter from it. She has to be careful because of her immune condition but it’s been just what she needed.”

Dancing on Ice starts on Sunday (January 14) and will air on ITV1 and ITVX.