Celebrities skating on thin ice

We've had celebrities on the dance floor, celebrities losing weight and celebrities in the circus.

And now comes the next stage in this new genre of reality television - celebrities on ice.

Skating on Thin Ice is a new program hosted by stripper-turned TV personality Jamie Durie putting nine novice ice-skaters to the test and debuts on the Nine Network this Sunday.

The show features nine celebrities, who are taught various skating routines and must perform in a live ice-skating spectacular for the final episode.

In the first instalment, which airs at 6.30pm (AEST) on Sunday, the amateur skaters will be put through a skate camp led by former Olympic figure skater, Liz Cain.

They will also train with Disney on Ice performance director Sue Brodie and the Sydney Dance Company.

And who better to feature as one of the celebrities in the program than the woman who went from frying fish and chips to an instant star after winning reality show Big Brother, Regina Bird.

Bird became the first female to win the Australian series of the program in 2003.

But if she thought lasting in a household with 14 other people for three months was tough, it's nothing compared to trying to stand up in a pair of skates on an ice rink.

"It's really hard work the ice-skating," admitted Bird after rehearsals at Sydney's Fox Studios this week.

"They reckon I'm one of the most improved compared to when I first got on there. I've really surprised myself how well that I have done."

Although Bird was happy with her performance, she wasn't booking a trip to Turin for next year's Winter Olympics just yet.

She said she was "having a ball" filming the show, which also features television presenter Dave Whitehill, country music crooner James Blundell, singer Deni Hines and model and actress Imogen Bailey.
Whitehall, who is a presenter on Nine's kid's shows Hot Source and So Fresh, hadn't ice-skated before. But he says he had a clear advantage.
"I was pretty lucky because of (my) surfing and skateboarding and all that sort of thing my balance was there," he said.

He said he was doing the show to challenge himself with his fitness.
"I really don't care if I hit the deck," Whitehill joked.

He said the team was learning to perform different routines such as spins, jumping and landing backwards on the ice.

"But at the moment we're not looking too elegant," he laughed.

A former Cleo magazine bachelor, Whitehill insisted he wasn't planning on doing a Tom Williams style strip tease on the ice for his final performance.

"I think I might try and steer clear of that," he said. "I think they've already done a promo shoot at the beginning.

"I thought everyone was going to be doing it that way, but then I found out it was only Imogen and I."

Article From: http://www.optusnet.com.au/news/story/aap/20050704/09/entertainment/skating-fed.inp