Sugababe Heidi Range admits ice skating is taking her mind off a broken heart

Sugababe Heidi Range admits ice skating is taking her mind off a broken heart

The 28-year-old singer says the ITV show has proved a lifeline after she broke up with fiance, DJ Dave Berry, after eight years together

Love life's on ice: Heidi with ex Dave Berry

PA

Considering she has spent the last few months being flung around the ice in a series of potentially bone-breaking moves, it’s a surprise to learn Heidi Range is terrified of skating.
And not just skating – a chat with the Sugababes star quickly reveals she is terrified of almost everything.
But in a more emotional moment, she also opens up about how her stint on Dancing On Ice is helping take her mind off her agonising split from the man she planned to marry.
The 28-year-old singer says the ITV show has proved a lifeline after she broke up with fiance, DJ Dave Berry, after eight years together.
Admitting the show followed an “incredibly difficult” time in her personal life, Heidi says: “I never thought for a second I’d do it.
“I’d never have considered it because I really am a scaredy cat by nature – I’m terrified of almost everything.
“I’m scared of walking in the dark, sleeping on my own, driving on motorways, heights – I’m a genuinely safety conscious person.
“The other day me and my skating partner Andrei Lipanov almost had our only row because he didn’t have his seatbelt on – it was bothering me.
“I’ve even got myself a helmet for practising, even though Andrei insists I don’t need one.”

Showgirl: Heidi says she's embracing the outfits needed for the programme

ITV

But she says the show was a welcome relief when her relationship with Capital FM breakfast show presenter Dave broke down ahead of their planned marriage later this year – Heidi had already decided on a Vera Wang dress.
She says: “Dancing on Ice was a great distraction from the break-up. It’s been good fun and different to throw myself into rather than sitting at home thinking about it.
“I’ll be lost when it finishes because it really does take over your whole life, and I have gone from a really difficult phase to throwing myself into this and absolutely loving it.
“I really don’t know what I’ll do with myself when it’s over.”
The break-up stunned fans who had considered the pair one of the strongest in showbusiness when Heidi made the announcement on her Twitter page in December. She wrote: “Very sadly, after eight years together, myself and Dave decided to separate. I wish him nothing but the best in life.”
Although the pair are determined to remain pals, they had a tiff when they met at last month’s National TV Awards. After Heidi referred to a gift she had bought Dave, he retorted: “Well, I still pay your Sky bill”.
Now, chatting at the show’s training rink, where she put me through my paces on the ice with a few of her newly learnt moves, Heidi added: “I’m really enjoying being single right now.”
The welcome distraction from her personal trauma may even have made her countless skating injuries worthwhile.
She says: “I hurt my knees yesterday, but the first bad fall was when my bone came right out of my wrist. I fell while practising a really simple step but it was an awkward fall. I heard it make a loud crack. They took me straight to hospital, where I was sobbing as they told me they thought it was broken.

Elegant: With dancing partner Andrei

ITV

“I was distraught at the thought of having to quit the show, but luckily it wasn’t broken. The bone had just come out of the joint. The physio is like a magician and she managed to twist it in a funny way and shove it back in.
“It’s become so frequent I’ve got used to being in pain. I’m almost expecting to be carrying an ice pack, heat pack, stitches – I’ve stopped being shocked.
“I cut my leg open with the blade of my skate on film week – the blade went into my leg and I had to have it stitched up. It was only one stitch but I wasn’t even surprised anymore.
“I’m at the stage where as long as the bones aren’t broken I’m fine with it.”
Injuries almost ended Heidi’s chances in the contest even before it began, when her original professional skating partner Sylvain Longchambon was forced to pull out days before the first live show.
An injury in rehearsals left the Frenchman with a torn bicep, and appeared to leave Heidi’s dreams in tatters after finally gaining the confidence to be lifted on the ice. “I had six weeks learning with Sylvain before Christmas, and then on the last day before the break we had a show and tell session where everyone performed their routines for the other contestants.
“We’d just started skating and out of nowhere he ruptured his bicep, right at the beginning of the routine. That’s when I met Andrei. We only had about six days of training before the first show so I did worry we would struggle.”
Heidi admits: “I was upset. You get really close to your partner and spend and lot of time together building up trust.
“So to then be lifted up into the air by someone different is terrifying. We’ve been working together about five weeks now and that trust has come back, but I had to just do it straight away with Andrei and that was terrifying.

Oh, Hei: She lifts a leg in training

“I just had to do it because the show was coming up, he kept asking, ‘Don’t you trust me?’ and I was telling him I did, but I don’t trust myself. I’m jumpy and edgy, I wriggle and shake.
“It’s a very unnatural feeling being thrown around and lifted up in the air. Every time I try something new I scream my head off.” After six weeks on the show Heidi has finally come to love the competition, and is desperate to stay in the running despite criticism from some of the judges and a few lecherous remarks about her racy outfits.
“The judges have been very fair and constructive,” she says. “So I appreciate them and take on board what they say and try to work on what they tell me.
“I like Jason Gardiner, I know him and he’s a lovely guy, but I think the new panel are brilliant – Louie is fantastic and I just love listening to what he comes out with on everyone’s comments.
“You don’t see a lot of the judges off screen – occasionally in hair and make-up but to be honest I think they’re trying to keep it very professional. You don’t meet them in the bar after the show on a Sunday night or anything. I guess they don’t feel it’s right, and don’t want anyone suggesting that they’re getting too friendly with any of us.
“It’s nice to know that people like the outfits – I tried on the gold catsuit before Christmas and it really scared me.
“I genuinely upped my gym sessions and cut down on carbs over Christmas, but I think that was probably the scariest outfit.
“I think on this show you’ve just got to embrace the costumes – I don’t know that I’m going to win any votes from them, but I guess some blokes might be tuning in for that kind of thing.
“I can’t imagine why they would, but then I haven’t got a man’s mind…”
OK, I admit it. I’ve sat watching Dancing On Ice and scoffed at some
of the hapless performances. Not any more.
Ice moves: Our man has a go

Ice cool: Simon and Heidi looking good

Daily Mirror

At least not since I landed flat on my backside as I tried to show off a few, er, skills after my interview with Heidi.
The things they’re asked to do are tough – really tough.
As I found out when I went sprawling in my slashed, little red Lycra number when Heidi helped me try a few moves.

Ice fool: Simon needs Heidi's helping hand

ITV

Dad must be so proud.

Dancing On Ice 2012: Heidi Range ‘sobbed’ when she thought she would be forced to leave

February 12th, 2012 by Lisa McGarry.

Heidi Range has admitted that she was devastated, when it looked like she might have to leave Dancing On Ice last month.
Before the ITV series kicked off for it’s 2012 run, the Sugababes star injured her wrist and at one point worried that it was broken and she would be forced to pull out of the lineup. Keith Chegwin and Chesney Hawkes had both injured themselves so badly, that they were forced to leave the show before the televised rounds even began and when it looked like Range would follow suit, she confessed that she sobbed over the prospect.
“They took me straight to hospital, where I was sobbing as they told me they thought it was broken,” she explained to The Mirror. “I was distraught at the thought of having to quit the show, but luckily it wasn’t broken.”
However, Heidi has had to endure quite a lot of pain and describing how her injury was treated, she continued:
“The bone had just come out of the joint. The physio is like a magician and she managed to twist it in a funny way and shove it back in.
“It’s become so frequent I’ve got used to being in pain. I’m almost expecting to be carrying an ice pack, heat pack, stitches – I’ve stopped being shocked… I’m at the stage where as long as the bones aren’t broken I’m fine with it.”
Range’s bad luck continued all the same and six days before the series started on ITV1, her partner Sylvain Longchambon injured his rib and was forced to pull out. He was replaced by pro skater Andrei Lipanov and Heidi admitted that she was ‘upset’ at having to bond with a new partner, in such a short space of time.
The blonde beauty recently revealed that she is dreading Dancing On Ice coming to an end, as it has proved to be a huge distraction for her, following her breakup from former fiance Dave Berry.
Dancing On Ice returns tonight, for a Valentines Day themed episode and we’ve been told that the costumes planned for Heidi and fellow contestants Jennifer Ellison are hot, hot, hot!