Summary
CLUTCHING A PAPER CUP OF COFFEE with two hands, hanging on for dear warmth, Aggie MacKenzie is a forlorn figure wearing body- hugging black, which matches her mood. She grimaces and her expressive eyes widen. Before hello, she announces, "I'm having an awful day. There have been tears." Stiffening her shoulders, she tosses her head defiantly in the direction of the film crew packing their gear a few yards away. "But not on camera!"
It's the final day of January and what none of us knows is that this is one of the last practice sessions MacKenzie and Sergey Malyshev will endure before being ousted in the 3 February skate off. For now, they owe time on their practice clock - a minimum of two hours every weekday - so I repair to the coffee shop for my own hand warmer. There, Gareth Gates - surprisingly tall and Tiggerishly bouncy - is taking possession of a pile-up of bread, eggs, and beans topped by strips of pale pink bacon edged in white fat.See the full content of this document
Extract
Out but Not Down
He and skating partner Maria Filippov, and Linda Lusardi and her partner, Dan Whiston, have the place to themselves, since at this hour the Lee Valley Ice Rink, in Waltham Forest isn't open to the public. This quartet of stars from ITV's hit show Dancing on Ice is buoyant, though their effervescence is tinged with a "once more unto the breach" undercurrent of tension. Laughing, they burst into song: first one then another takes hold of the tune while their companions sing harmony. Whiston has a good voice. As, I am forced to testify, does Gates.
Back out on the ice, I watch MacKenzie finishing up ...See the full content of this document
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