Dancing on Ice - Michael Underwood
11 January 2008 - Introducing celebrity skater Michael Underwood
Age: 32
Occupation: Presenter
Skating Partner: Melanie Lambert
Celebrity Supporters: Fiona Phillips, Jenni Falconer, Ben Shepherd
GMTV roving reporter Michael Underwood is sure that becoming svelte is his key to becoming king of the ice.
"Yes, I used to have a real problem with late night snacking, and I mean really bad. At half eleven at night I'd get hungry and eat something and not just snacks. I'd properly eat which is not good because obviously you go to bed on a full stomach so I've completely cut that out because Lycra is very unforgiving and I still need to hit the gym now."
The latest member of the GMTV entertainment team, presenter Michael Underwood started his career hosting a number of shows for CBBC including the successful Saturday Morning show Ministry Of Mayhem.
Having recently been decamped down under reporting for GMTV on the latest series of I'm A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! Michael admits that the other skaters are now looking stronger and he's worried.
"I was in Australia for a month and during those four weeks these guys have literally caught up and moved on. I'm playing catch up at the moment and I'm getting really worried. People like Suzanne Shaw, Gareth Gates and Hollyoaks Chris Fountain are phenomenal. I'm getting on ok but I need to get on better."
"It's far too early to talk about rivals, but I'd go for Greg Rusedski because he keeps winding me up. He keeps goading me implying that I'm some sort of ex-European skating champion, he keeps saying 'you're just a liar Underwood' when I say I'm not improving. I think he's playing a game and actually talking about himself, so I actually think Greg Rusedski's one to watch."
Michael is conquering long held skating fears by taking part in Dancing On Ice.
"I went a few times (skating) when I was younger, one was for a kid's birthday party when I was about eight or nine but I never enjoyed it. My memories of any time I did go were horrible. It just hurt your ankles, was cold, hurt your hands – basically awful. I haven't got positive memories of ice skating."
Speeding his way through training, Michael admits that whilst he's starting to master the basics he isn't ready to attempt lifts with his skating partner Melanie Lambert.
"My skating's not bad, I can go backwards and forwards. I can't pick anyone up yet, I haven't tried that but I am getting some speed up which is apparently the difficult bit. It's not just about doing the basics, it's doing them at speed and at the moment I'm going quite fast which is good. It does mean however, that if you fall over you break, or hurt, or damage yourself, so I've got to be careful."
Paired with professional skater Melanie Lambert, who partnered last years Champion Kyran, Michael is playing it cool when asked whether he's worried about becoming as good as Kyran Bracken.
"I think the pressures on her more, she's got to try and make me good. She's got to make me as good as Kyran [Bracken], that's her pressure not mine."
With the first live show looming, Michael reveals something that might give him the edge over the other competitors and one thing he is excited about will be silencing the laughter of his harshest critics.
"I'm thinking about my posture. The coaches have been telling me that what they've noticed in previous years is that posture hasn't been great. Apparently if your posture is good and your feet mess up, to everyone else it'll look good so I'm trying really hard to work on that but we'll see, I don't know if it'll work."
"My friends have been laughing - they all can't wait to see the outfits. It's that thought of 'Michael in Lycra, that'll be hilarious!' type thing, and I'm like 'thanks guys, that's brilliant, you're really helping here'. I think they can't wait and also they know that I'm not very good and not the most patient person in the world. I think they really can't believe that I'm learning something like this so it'll be good to prove them wrong."
Having mastered skating backwards, Michael's still apprehensive about falling over and still suffers from the occasional tantrum during training.
"Skating backwards on the ice for the first time as been a real high point for me. When I was first on the ice I couldn't move backwards at all, I didn't get it, I didn't understand how you could possibly move backwards but now I feel really comfortable. I feel more comfortable going backwards that forwards so that achievement was amazing and I loved it. Now, whenever I get on the ice the first thing first I thing I do is start going backwards so that was a great achievement.
"But I'm dreading hurting myself. I suppose everyone would say that but I am dreading it because it just seems like it's only a moment away. I mean just the other day I accidentally kept my skate guards (blade protectors) on my boots. Now if you keep your guards on and step onto the ice, you fall straight over…bang! It serves me right because Hollyoaks' Chris (Fountain) did it earlier and I was laughing at him and then I went on and did it.
"There are so many highs and lows at the moment. I think I've had days where I'm so annoyed that I just can't go on any longer, in some training sessions you're not picking anything up and there are some days where you feel like you forget what you've learnt the week before or even the day before. I've had days where I've been frustrated and I've sat there in a bit of a grumpy mood. It's terrible - I'm like a little child."
