Donna Air agreed to do ‘Dancing on Ice’ to set an example for her daughter.
The former ‘Byker Grove’ actress raised eyebrows when she announced she was joining the line up for the now-current skating series, but she’s adamant it was a no-brainer when she was approached for the job because she wanted to teach her 14-year-old daughter Freya, whom she has with Damian Aspinall, to be "brave" in life.
Speaking to HELLO! magazine, she said: "Life is about experiences, and if you get the chance to do something you should grab it. The reason you don’t do things, quite often, is fear… I want to teach her to be brave. It’s okay to fail. What it’s not okay to do is not try, and to be scared… you have to lead by example …. The joy of getting older is that you get to a point where you don’t care. It would be a bit strange at my age if I was dominated by what people think. It’s liberating, getting older."
The 38-year-old TV personality was supported by her on/off boyfriend James Middleton – the brother of the Duchess of Cambridge – when she first took to the ice last weekend and she has admitted, although she was initially concerned about having people she knew in the audience, she was "touched" that he came to see her.
Donna – who has been dating James for five years – said: "It’s been lovely to have the support of everyone. It’s quite funny because you think, ‘Oh I don’t want anyone there – it’s distracting. I just want to skate and get it done.’ But having people there – my closest – on the first skate was really helpful."
Donna had a relatively unlucky start to the competition as her skates – which she had been breaking in for the past three months – were stolen from her car just days before she was meant to take to the ice.
But, despite the set back, the blonde beauty is proving to be one of the front runners in the competition as she pulled in some 6s from the judges in last night’s show.
Donna Air doing Dancing on Ice for daughter
