Dancing On Ice 2010: profile of Hayley Tamaddon

HAYLEY TAMADDON

AGE: 32

OCCUPATION: ACTRESS

SKATING PARTNER: DANIEL WHISTON

“It's a dream come true for me to do this. Injury or no injury, you'll have to drag me off the ice by my hair to stop me doing this show!”

The ex-Emmerdale star reveals she had a secret schoolgirl crush on her skating partner when they grew up together in Blackpool – and now finally having the chance to dance with Daniel is a dream come true.

'For me this is more than just another job, I've wanted to do this for such a long time and I dreamt about skating with Dan as a 12 year old,' admits Hayley.

'We met when I went to a little theatre school that was based in the back of the ice rink in Blackpool where Daniel trained. I used to be so wrapped up in the skating and would just stand and watch him and love it. I remember he used to have a massive bouffant hairdo which was hilarious and he wore big glasses too. I suppose he looked a bit like Harry Potter but with blond hair,' she adds, laughing.  'Not that I looked that great when I was that age. I had way too much curly hair and probably a monobrow if I remember correctly!

'One day we got talking and he said I should give skating a go and but my mum wouldn't let me so I used to just go and watch him doing his shows instead and we became really good mates. Actually, I remember once I auditioned for a little part in one of Dan's shows because they wanted someone to stand in the middle of the ice on a podium and do some acting. I auditioned for it because I was desperate to skate with Dan and I had a bit of a secret crush on him truth be told when I was that age, but I never got the part. I really wanted to do it but my friend got it instead. So to have come all this way down the line and to finally be able to skate with him is just phenomenal.

'We had a good few years when we were younger when we were together every day and as adults we've seen each other every now and again. But now all these years later it just feels like we've gone full circle, we've fallen back into the same relationship and it's so weird. Daniel keeps saying: 'Every time I'm with you I feel naughty, I feel like we're 12 again.' Because all we do is laugh. I'm amazed we have actually got anything done. But spending so much time with Daniel after so long has been amazing and when we found out we were going to be partners on Dancing On Ice it was just the best news ever, it was unbelievable.'

Although Hayley says there wasn't much laughter when she suffered her first major injury in the ice – in fact laughing was almost a physical impossibility:

'We were trying a new lift over and over again and one time Dan went to put me down and my top half kind of stretched away from my bottom half and I heard this nasty pop. I couldn't move and I could feel my back going into spasms which was horrible. What happened was that my muscles had popped away from my ribs and for about a week afterwards I was finding it difficult to breathe and I couldn't cough or anything like that. Even now every time I go to laugh. I'm having to hold my sides because it's so painful. And don't even get me started on sneezing, that's just impossible.

'So it has been a nightmare and I can't do any lifts for the time being, which is a bit of a shock to the system and your confidence does suffer when things like this start to go wrong. I never even knew your ribs could pop like that, but you're using these muscles that you've never used before so I suppose your body just isn't used to it.

'Being injured has held me back from training properly which hasn't helped my nerves and I'm just praying right now it gets better in time. There is no way I'm missing out on this experience because as I said earlier, it's a dream come true for me to do this. Injury or no injury, you'll have to drag me off the ice by my hair to stop me doing this show!'

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