A small confession – I’m a bit of a fan of ITV’s Dancing on Ice, or given the near celebrity-free zone it is this year, more like Dancing on Thin Ice.

Anyway, what is not at issue is that ice skating is difficult, and, occasionally, really painful - after all it is very slippy out there.

The sport has now morphed into show-business but back in the 70’s and 80’s, ice skating provided some of the best and most dramatic sporting theatre of its time.

It would have been around this time of year we would have all been on the edge of our seats hoping our leading British competitors in the ‘Europeans, Worlds and Olympics’ didn’t land on theirs!

John Curry in Innsbruck, Robin Cousins in Lake Placid and most famously Torvill and Dean in Sarajevo majestically and beautifully landed Olympic Gold.

And, of course, skating’s lady in red, Katarina Witt, looked like fire on ice. Dazzling.

T. and D, and their famous Bolero routine, entranced a remarkable British television audience of around 24 million – and now the golden couple have been re-born on their hit ITV show.

Strange really because the sport itself seems to have been banished to the icy wastelands of late-night television.

And, I for one miss it.

P.S. I hope Heidi or Jennifer win!