Michaela Strachan has spoken candidly about the emotional toll of her breast cancer battle and her concerns ahead of her appearance on Dancing on Ice next week. The 58-year-old Springwatch presenter was diagnosed with breast cancer in early 2014 following a routine mammogram, and made a full recovery after a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery.
Strachan admitted that her biggest worry about the ITV show is not the risk of injury, but the tight costumes. 'Who thought it was a good idea to put knives on the bottom of boots, skate around and do fancy tricks on a slidy surface? That is wonderfully absurd!' she said. She also revealed that she had second thoughts after watching a compilation of accidents on YouTube with her partner Nick, who urged her not to take part.
Despite her initial fears, Strachan decided to go ahead, saying: 'I'm 58 years old, I'm lucky to be fit and healthy, having had a cancer scare in my life. My soul food is hiking in the mountains. Do I want to jeopardise that? Do I want an injury I'll never get over? I did have second thoughts. But I'm not a quitter.'
Strachan, who moved to Cape Town in 2002 after falling in love with South African cameraman Nick Chevallier, has been training four hours a day at an ice rink in Slough while living in an Airbnb near Henley. She described this as 'the perfect year' for the show, as her son Ollie has started university at Loughborough.
She is partnered with Scottish skater Mark Hanretty, who she says is 'the nicest man on ice' and plans to make this his last series. Strachan reflected on her career, which began in musical theatre and included presenting The Hitman And Her with Pete Waterman, where she introduced Take That for their first television appearance.
