Songstress Michelle Heaton has rapidly bonded with her professional Dancing On Ice skating partner Łukasz Rózycki, whom she says is much like her husband of 12 years, Hugh Hanley.
“I’m so lucky. Łukasz and Hugh are so similar,” says the 43-year-old Liberty X singer. “They’re very matter of fact, they can be direct, but they are great men.
"Łukasz is a really understanding and patient partner. He’s very strong. I feel secure and completely looked after. I trust him wholeheartedly. And he’s really fun. He’s always happy.”
Michelle and Łukasz’s ice-pro wife Alexandra Schauman have also become friends. “Alex is amazing, too,” she says. I get on really well with her, so it’s a bit of a family.”
For Michelle, who has a daughter, Faith, 10, and an eight-year-old son, AJ, with Hugh, appearing on the show is something she could only have dreamt of three years ago when she was in the grip of a life-threatening drink and drug addiction.
She was approached by DOI bosses at the time but was “gutted” when she wasn’t chosen to take part in the show. Now, 635 days sober and thriving after working to beat her demons, She serves as a symbol of hope to others.
Michelle credits her teetotal, fitness fanatic Irish husband for helping her turn her life around and never giving up on her.
“I love him more than I ever have,” she says. “I’ve got a person who stood by me and never gave up hope. He knew I was in there somewhere – and thank God he did.
“A few years ago I was considered for Dancing On Ice and was gutted that I wasn’t chosen. With my addiction, I understand now why it wasn’t the right time. Dancing On Ice isn’t Keeping me sober. It’s come at the right time because I am sober. I have this overwhelming sense of gratitude.”
Michelle hit rock bottom in January 2020, drinking up to a bottle of vodka and two bottles of wine every day, and taking cocaine. It was the terrifying climax to becoming dependent on alcohol while struggling with hormonal depression following a hysterectomy.
The operation, which triggered early menopause at the age of 34, was to reduce her risk of breast and ovarian cancers after learning she carried the mutated BRCA2 gene.
By September 2020, doctors warned she was close to death from liver failure, which led to her friends and family begging her to seek help. But it wasn’t until the following April that she finally acknowledged she was an alcoholic and was admitted to the Priory for the 28-day rehab stint that saved her.
Showering their mum with love and care, Michelle’s children played as integral a part in her recovery as her 12-step programme. She and Hugh never hid her battles from Faith and AJ and she believes her openness has made their family bond stronger.
“We just told them that Mummy was allergic to prosecco and then it naturally evolved to Mummy doesn’t drink alcohol,” says Michelle. “When I was in the Priory, Faith went to school and told her friends, ‘When your mummy comes round to my mummy’s you’ve got to bring coffee and not prosecco anymore. When we went shopping in Asda, if we walked down the alcohol aisle, AJ used to go ‘Mummy, don’t look!’
“Thankfully, I don’t think the kids acknowledged anything that bad during my addiction, but they see the difference now. Mummy is happier and not raising her voice as much. I’m not tearful. Their memories aren’t what Hugh’s are.”
Gateshead-born Michelle, who shot to fame in 2001 on reality show Popstars, has since tried to raise awareness of addiction’s devastating effects.
She regularly shares shocking photos of herself on Instagram showing her both at the height of her addiction and on her subsequent road to recovery. On New Year’s Eve, she posted a montage of snaps from when she was rushed into hospital. In one of them, her face is so swollen it looks as though she’s been in a fight.
“I was admitted into hospital after collapsing in active addiction,” she says. “I left the hospital the next day feeling great and walked to the off-licence and bought more vodka. I swore I was on the mend, but it was the only way I knew how to live. I was so bloated I looked pregnant because of the swelling of my liver on my right side.
My eyes were puffy and my skin was swollen, itchy and covered in marks, as my liver wasn’t working properly. My confidence was nonexistent. I was crying so much through drinking. I was drinking and sobbing and praying to God to help me. I couldn’t understand why I kept having to drink. I didn’t acknowledge for one moment I was an addict or an alcoholic.”
Her month-long stay at the Priory was the lifeline Michelle needed. After suffering painful withdrawal symptoms, which she describes as “physically mourning alcohol”, she got herself clean and with the support of the programme – which she still follows – she hasn’t looked back. You need only look at her glowing complexion and ripped muscles to see she’s in great shape.
Exercise has been a big part of her recovery and she’s kitted out her backstage dressing room at the ITV studio with all her creature comforts. “I took all my yoga mats, my skipping rope, three onesies, slippers and my Deep Heat roll-ons,” she says. “I’m 43 – my mind doesn’t behave like a 20-year-old and my body certainly doesn’t bend like some of the younger contestants’ – but I feel in the best shape I ever have, certainly since having kids. That comes with sobriety and not having anything in my system that’s creating anything bad or negative. When I’m working out, it’s because I love to, not because I have to, so there’s no pressure.”
Michelle’s only previous skating experience was at London’s Winter Wonderland with friend Matt Evers, who is partnering Patsy Palmer, when she fell “epically” on the ice.
So, it must have been quite a scary experience to take her first “Bambi” steps in front of Olympic champions Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, judges alongside Oti Mabuse and Ashley Banjo.
“My first session was with Chris and Jayne,” she recalls. “I had to skate up to them individually. It was so nerve-racking. I remember being picked up by Chris and spun around and I was like, ‘Oh my God, I’m so dizzy. How am I going to do this?’ I remember them telling me, ‘Enjoy every moment. Relax. You’re not in competition with anyone else.’”
Aside from a few falls on her bottom, Michelle has escaped injury so far and says she and other DOI contestants have become firm friends who keep in touch on WhatsApp. “Patsy (Palmer) and I have a lot in common. We’re of an age and I’m looking forward to spending more time with her. I knew Siva (Kaneswaran) already and Ekin-su (Cülcüloglu) is lovely.”
After finding the strength to beat her addiction, does Michelle think she and Łukasz will go all the way to the end?
“I’m proud of where I’ve come from, I’m f***ing super proud,” she says. “I’d love to win. I want to perform every Sunday. I don’t want it to be over.”