-Credit:Gisela Schober/Getty Images
The ITV show Dancing on Ice returns to our screens this weekend for the 17th edition of the hit programme.
Eleven famous faces are making their way to the rink, with Holly Willoughby and Stephen Mulhern again paired to host proceedings.
Unfortunately, the show has already suffered one casualty, with Dame Sarah Storey pulling out of the competition after fracturing her ankle in rehearsals.
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Storey wrote on Instagram: “Absolutely gutted to have my Dancing on Ice training interrupted in this way – just as my first routine with @slongchambon was really coming together! An awkward stumble and fall with my left foot stuck on the ice sadly led to me fracturing my left ankle.”
She will, however, be cheering on the remaining celebrities on the ice, with world-renowned sports star Sir Steve Redgrave among the 11 remaining celebrities.
The 62-year-old former Olympic rower is sporting royalty in the UK, having won five Olympic gold medals at five consecutive games from 1984 to 2000. He is most successful male rower in history, with his gold medal haul only surpassed by Sir Chris Hoy and Jason Kenny.
Redgrave said: “It’s like going back to being an athlete again, I’ve been competing most of my life.”
His achievements on the water might well be well known to most, but let’s get to know him away from the boat….
Health condition
Redgrave has disclosed he has a health condition that could effect his performance on the show.
The Olympian has Dupuytren’s contracture and diabetes, which he feels will pose him challenges during the competition.
“I’ve been diabetic for almost 30 years so the sensation in my feet isn’t as good as what it used to be, so navigating my footing on the ice could be a problem,” said the former athlete.
“I also have Dupuytren’s contracture which affects my hands, meaning I can’t make them flat. So if I do fall over, although I’m planning not to, it means I may have trouble getting up.”
“The first thing I tell people is that it is a condition that can cause lumps in your hand, those lumps will form cords and the cords can pull your fingers in,” explains Anna Schurer, chair of British Dupuytren’s Society.
“It is more common in older people and people of northern European descent. Research suggests that for 80% of patients it is hereditary and that for 20% it is environmental – so people can develop it if you don’t have family members who have the condition, but they’re far more likely to develop it if somebody in the family already has it.
“Inflammation and trauma can also set it off. For example, if patients break their wrist or have surgery for carpal tunnel, a few months later they sometimes start noticing changes in their hands.”
He was also diagnosed with ulcerative colitis back in 1992.
“I got really sick with Colitis 15 weeks before I had to compete at the Barcelona Olympics,” he said. “I was in the loo 10 times a day, my performance was tailing off, I was in agony. I look back now and realise how sick I was. Colitis is something you just can’t control. I’m married to a doctor, so I was really lucky that she realised there was something major going on and got me some help.
“I got a diagnosis, started treatment, and – luckily – my performance began coming back, but it was a really close call. When I won the gold medal I wasn’t thinking much about my Colitis.”
Wife and family
Redgrave married wife Ann in 1988 and the couple have three children – Natalie, Sophie and Zak.
Ann was also a successful rower who competed at Olympics games as well. She represented Great Britain in the women’s eight at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984.
While representing England at the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, Ann was awarded a silver medal in the eight and a bronze medal in the four. Since 2009 she has been GB rowing team’s medical officer and is a qualified doctor.
Daughter Natalie has also been bitten by the rowing bug; she competed with the Oxford University Women’s Boat Club at the Henley Boat Races in 2011, which she won along with her team.
Speaking of his daughter’s gifts with The Independent at the time, Redgrave reflected: “I can’t say if it’s inherited or not, but her whole life has been around competitive sport and watching it. She was on the rostrum at an Olympic Games when she was only one year old, in between her father and her godfather, both of them with Olympic gold medals around their necks.”
Money woes
Redgrave disclosed some years ago that he returned from the Atlanta Olympics in debt, lamenting the lack of money in rowing.
He told The Times: “People think a five-times Olympic gold medallist is financially secure. Unfortunately, there’s no gold in the gold medals. Rowing is a training sport and not really a racing one; we race only five or six times a year. There’s no prize money. There’s no appearance money. When you’re training for 49 weeks a year to get to the level you need to be at, you don’t really have an income.
“I came back from Atlanta in debt. My account was in the red. People said: ‘You’re one of the top athletes. Why’s that the case?’ And you would turn it round the other way and say: ‘How much is rowing on TV? Not very much’. The viewing figures are nowhere near the same level for our sport outside the Olympics. If you don’t get viewing figures, you don’t get sponsors; there’s no money in it.”
Other passion
Redgrave, who has size 12 feet, is also a qualified ski instructor who has taught many family members.
“Everyone knows me as a rower, but I also love skiing,” he said. “I’m actually a qualified ski instructor; I taught my sister, my mother-in-law, and my kids to ski. People reckon being good on the snow should be an advantage on the ice, but sadly not! I’m a grandfather now, and it’s one of the best things that’s ever happened to me. I have had a lot of great moments in my time, but when my daughter told me she would like me to teach my granddaughter to ski, that was so special. I can’t wait to do it. I was so proud to be asked.
“My granddaughter is under two, so she has never seen me compete either. I think her being able to watch me on Dancing on Ice is also one of the motivations for me doing the show.
“Let’s see how it goes. I’m realistic about my chances, but after all the training I reckon I must be getting a bit better because I’ve started getting a little more competitive with myself and wondering whether I can last for a few weeks rather than going out straight away.”