 |
. |
.
Trevor: Bonnie, it's really great to see you back on our screens on a Saturday night, you must be very excited? Bonnie: I am very excited. I only stepped on to the Ice for the first time 3rd week of October, that was just to see if I could stand up! Well I managed that.............just. So the next thing was to see if I could skate round the rink. Only just! Paul was with me and I asked him what he thought after he had finished wiping the tears away from laughing so much at my ice antics, He said I should go for it and with a hefty insurance premium here I am!! To be working with Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean too. Professional skaters would give their right arm to be doing what I am doing, so I consider myself extremely lucky. Trevor: I imagine it's great fun to take part in a celebrity challenge show. How do you compare being invited to learn to skate with say... having to eat bugs in the Australian Jungle? Bonnie: I have been asked over the past few years to be involved in various celebrity challenges for television and this is the first one I thought would be fun and also a personal challenge for me to learn a new skill. I have always admired skating as another form of dance. I hope it will be great fun, but I can't begin to tell you the work that has been involved since I started training. So, really there is no comparison as far as eating bugs is concerned. I wouldn't be able to do that anyway.......I can't even cope with English house spiders in the bath!! Trevor: What was your first reaction when they asked you to take part in Dancing on Ice? Bonnie: You must be *~###**## joking!!! Trevor: How much do your skills as a dancer help you to translate familiar moves into ice skating steps? Bonnie: Not much really. If you think that everyone can run and jump and turn on the ground............how many people can do the same on steel blades on ice? Nothing on ice is quite the same as dancing on the floor. I have had to re-learn basic things. In dance, you straighten your legs - what they call 'pulling up' - if you do that on the ice you land on your behind very fast. And that's just the beginning, I have had to unlearn habits that have been with me all my life. I only hope that on the night my brain logs on to 'ice mode' and not 'dance mode'! In the meantime, I'm getting used to having many bruises..........many, many bruises! Trevor: Torvill and Dean both have a reputation for being exacting task masters. How do you feel about having to learn something new under such demanding conditions? Bonnie: Exhilarated. Chris is incredible he just is so positive about everything. He does forget though that I have only had about 10 weeks on the ice! But his energy and creativeness makes me want to work even harder. Jayne is brilliant too. She will take something Chris has shown me and explain to me in my basic terms what to do. I must just say at this point that Karen Barber and her husband Stephen have been fantastic too. Again they break it down till I can understand what I am supposed to do. I have taken coaching lessons at the Guildford Spectrum too. It's a great atmosphere and not quite as pressured as the filmed training sessions. Everyone there is so supportive, especially my trainer Andrew, and Ingrid and all the guys at the rink. I also must mention my wonderful ice partner Matt Evers. It must be very frustrating for him at times as he is a professional skater from the USA, but he is helping me to gain my confidence as well. If I want, or indeed need extra training he will be there. It is lovely to skate round the rink with this gorgeous man knowing that he won't let you fall. Trevor: We, the viewing public, have a rosy view of the life of a celebrity, but I know you have been working long hours to train for the skating, appear in Panto and get ready for your new tour of shows with Sandi Toksvig. What demands does that place on you as a performer and mother? Bonnie: A lot of demands. But I think no more than a normal Mother with all she has to do. I have spells of work where it seems like my feet never touch the ground. But I also have spells when I am not working and I can be at home more that someone who has a job 12 months of the year. So, although it can be tough at times you will never find me complaining. I consider myself to be very lucky that I can combine motherhood with the career that I enjoy ..and, generally, pays my mortgage!! Trevor: Now that Bonnie Langford has cut a dash on the ice - what can we look forward to next? Bonnie: Singing on Ice!! Who knows. I have always gone with the flow. If an opportunity arises and I can make it work, then I will. I would like to do more Big Band Concerts as well as ..........just everything. But, you must come and see the show I am doing with Sandi Toksvig. I think it will be great fun. We are such good friends, we know how one another thinks - and that can be trouble too, in the laughter stakes! We are compiling the show right now so there will be a certain amount of....spontaneity to it. Trevor: What chance do you think we have of seeing you represent Great Britain in the next Winter Olympics? Bonnie: As much chance as me sprouting wings and flying! So, I reckon none! Trevor: Thanks Bonnie, enjoy the challenge and remember... we're all right behind you! Bonnie: Thanks for all the support, but I need it all right now. Don't forget to vote, otherwise I'm out! Love to you all, as ever, Bonnie.
|
|||
|
Please use the section headings listed below to navigate around the website:
|
onnie
Langford - Dancing On Ice Interview.......