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Monday August 25: First Week of Training
HOTSHOT BRAD TORRANCE TRADES FIRE FOR ICE
The celebrity figure skating competition “Dancing on Ice USA” announces its second celebrity contestant with the inclusion of actor and star of “Hotshots” Brad Torrance. Torrance stars as Captain Race Banner, leader of the 119 Fire Station on DEF’s hit drama, which will be starting its sixth season in the fall. Torrance, 41, is originally from the UK, and has had roles on both stage and screen, both here and in his home country.
Torrance is excited to start training and sees it as a fresh, new challenge that will be a test of his athletic ability. Speaking to us about taking to ice, he likened it to learning a new skill for an acting role; “when I approach a role, such as that of Captain Race Banner, I want it to feel real and authentic, so I want to use as much of my own skills as possible. And a range of skills at that.
We have a great stunt team on the show, but as part of my quest for true authenticity, I want to do as much of my own stunt work as possible. So that means having athletic ability and good strength. I like to think that if there are any lifts involved, my partner will be in good hands! And who knows, this might even come in handy for a future role!”
Looking to the future already. You can catch Brad Torrance and the thirteen other celebrities, including the previously announced star of the Bachelorette Emma Charles, when the show kicks off Saturday 20 September at 7pm on DEF, hosted by Late Night’s Johnny Hardy and co-host of Good Morning USA Alexa Martinez.
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Brad Torrance had entered the ice rink with both a sense of excitement and trepidation, the sense that he was in over his head creeping up on him. It was the knowledge that it was not just another acting gig, but he was going to be himself out there on an ice rink in front of thousands of people, performing a skill that he’s hardly qualified in. The pressure was sinking in as he sat in the stands of the rink, lacing up his skates.
You can do this, Brad. You got this! Brad mentally shook off his fears before stepping onto the ice, only to stagger as soon as his blades hit the ice. He held onto the edge of rink with a death grip, a look of terror on his face as he felt one of his skates slide further, almost knocking him down. Brad took two deep breaths before moving his legs back and forth, getting a good feel of the blades beneath his feet before venturing further onto the ice, letting go of the edge of the rink.
Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean spotted him, and Torvill called out, “good to see you, Brad! We were going to come over and see if you needed a hand, but it looks like you’re getting your way around it.”
“Thank you. Yeah, a little stumble, but I just got to get a feel for the blades, the ice.” Brad replies, getting closer to them in the centre of the rink, arms held outwards in order to balance himself. A slight blush rose in him in embarrassment at the movement in front of the seasoned professionals, but he really didn’t want to fall in front of them.
“Ah, a fellow Brit! It can be a little rough for everyone at first, but you’ll soon get used to it. And your partner will help with that.” Dean adds, picking up on Brad’s accent.
A few seconds later, Brad meets them in the centre of the rink, and Torvill holds onto him to steady him when she sees him wobble. “So, when do I get to meet my partner, then?”
First, Torvill and Dean takes him through a private training session, as every celebrity contestant receives at the start of their skating journey on the show. Brad trains with the British skating duo for two hours, during which they do several laps of the rink and Brad only falls once, and he feels more comfortable on the ice. They demonstrate basic skating techniques to start with, bending the knees and moving forward with a lunging motion to go round the rink. They moved slowly at first, until Brad expressed a better level of comfort on the ice.
By the end of their two hours together, the three of them had made progress and the two professionals were happy with Brad’s progress. They took a 20 minute break before Brad’s partner would join them, giving the production crew time to set up the cameras (since the cameras had been off for the past hour). Brad was able to get a cup of coffee from a production assistant, Stephanie (he thanked her and made a note of her name in his mind), which warmed him after spending so much time on the ice.
He smiled to himself between sips of coffee as he looked out onto the ice, thinking about the progress he's making already, as Torvill and Dean praised him at the end of the session for only falling once and told him that he’s looking good. When he got the offer to compete on Dancing on Ice US, Brad wasn’t sure if he was going to take it at first. He had his work on Hotshots to think about as they had been renewed for their sixth season and production was taking place during the summer, so he already had quite a busy schedule with that. Plus, he already had a break during the production of the last season when he shadowed the 118 fire station, and the show put Captain Race Banner in a coma. However, he also saw it as a chance to broaden his horizons, learn a new skill, try something new… even if it does come with the possibility of screwing up in front of tens of thousands of people every week.
Knowing about his responsibility to Hotshots and wanting to try to have some kind of balance this time, he explained this situation when accepting the gig on Dancing on Ice and both shows were able to make it work. With production for the first half of Hotshots season six done in the summer, Captain Banner sustains an injury that leads him to spend some time recovering before going back out in the field (with production resuming after the New Year). So, with work figured out, Brad decided to take on this challenge and here he is.
He was taken out of his thoughts by the return of Stephanie the PA who asks, “are you ready to meet your skating partner? We’re about to bring her out in a minute so we’re gonna need you back on the ice.” Brad looked up at her at the sound of her voice, putting on a smile.
“Absolutely! Let’s go, love.” Brad responded with enthusiasm, and Stephanie took the coffee cup from him.
Torvill and Dean had left, so it was just him and the crew in the rink while his partner got ready on the other side. Brad got himself back on the ice, more smoothly this time, ready to meet his partner, nerves settling in once again. He looked up as he heard the sound of another pair of skates hit the ice to find a young, brunette woman skating towards him. He would put her around her mid-20s, with golden brown hair that hangs down to her elbows, but was currently tied up in a ponytail. She skated smoothly across the ice, before doing a twirl and coming to land in front of him.
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BRIDGET NASH: Hi, I’m Bridget Nash, former two-time gold-medal U.S. Figure Skating Champion and silver-medal Worlds Figure Skating Champion. I grew up in Minnesota before moving to L.A. and this is my third year on Dancing on Ice US
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“Let’s get to work.”
It’s half past one when Bridget is introduced to Brad, and the pair have the rink for the rest of the afternoon. Despite this being their first training session, Bridget doesn’t plan on easing him into training. She does go over the basics with him, as they glide around the rink, hand-in-hand, but she plans to make use of every minute they have on the ice. She gave him commands to help him move around the ice, making sure he had his posture and balance sorted before they got into any kinds of lifts or complicated techniques. That afternoon, she wanted to make sure that he had a handle on the basics first before they got any further.
Luckily, the further they went, the more comfortable Brad grew on the ice, and he took well to Bridget’s instruction. She corrected his posture where it was wrong, and instructed him to “make sure that your knees and ankles are slightly bent, push forward in a marching motion and keep going.” They worked on both forward and backward skating, and added in some squat moves across the ice.
As the afternoon wore on, Brad made good progress, and Bridget was happy with how things were going. The initial wave of nerves had passed from Brad and there weren’t as many wobbles as there were when he started, which they were both pleased with. So she started adding more moves – still beginner moves, but more than just skating back and forth. Bridget showed him how to do a swizzle, bending the knees and pressing inwards. She moved her feet outwards and separate with the motion, straightening her knees and bringing her toes together in the move. She demonstrated the move first, then they did a few together.
By the time their time in the rink came to an end, Bridget felt like Brad had mastered the basics and that they could move onto bigger and better things the next day. She told him so as they finished up, waving him over to the edge of the rink. “You’ve made some great progress in your first session, Brad. You’ve nailed the basics and tomorrow, we can move onto bigger stuff.”
“That’s good to hear, Bridge. I’m glad to hear you think I’m doing well. I’m really excited about our partnership.” Brad replies with a big smile.
“Me too! Now, we’ve come to the end of our rink time today, so let’s head off and get out of our skates.”
The two of them head off the rink, with Bridget helping Brad off of the ice and she picks up her skate guards from where she left them in the stands nearest the rink. She shows Brad how to put them on as well, and when they’re back at the locker room, makes sure that he has his on his skates before taking them off, explaining that they are essential for preserving the quality and sharpness of the blades.
When they’re in the locker room, Bridget pulls her notebook and a pen out of her duffle bag and hands it to Brad, asking, “hey, can I get your contact info, please – phone number, email address? It’s so I can send you some stuff for training, mainly a training schedule and some guides on skating. Well, anything that comes to mind that could help off the ice although practical training is where the real work is done.”
Brad is surprised by her request; partially by how forward she is about it, and partially because he thought she would already have it from the crew, producers and such. “Of course.” He responds, taking the notebook and pen to jot down his info. “But I thought you would have this already, from the show’s crew.”
“Oh no, they don’t tell us – us being the pros – who we’re going to be partnered with until the day of. I think it’s to keep it a surprise and stop any potential leaks.” Bridget waved her hands around the word ‘surprise’ and Brad looked up as she spoke the last part.
“Yeah, that makes sense, actually. Have the first time we meet be on camera – that’s how these things usually go.” Bridget nodded.
Brad handed her notebook and pen back to her and she put it back in her bag, along with her skates, before sitting down on the bench in the middle of the locker room. “You know, don’t expect this to be easy. I don’t know if you know this, but I’m a two-time National Champion and I didn’t get that by coasting through. I put in the time and effort into training, and I expect you to do the same. Hard work and dedication are two things I expect you to put into this partnership.”
“Absolutely. I didn’t know that about you, but that’s bloody brilliant. I promise you, I am committed to this. It’s a challenge, that’s for sure, but one that I’m willing to take on.” Brad says.
“Excellent! That’s what I like to hear.” Bridget checks the time on her phone and upon seeing it, gets up to leave. “Well, I’ll get that training schedule figured out and emailed over to you. We should find out soon what we’re going to be skating to in the first live show as well. I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow morning, 8AM.”
Brad’s face drops at this last bit, although Bridget doesn’t notice as she’s already walking away. “8AM?”
“Yeah. Get in an early morning run before we start on the ice. Get that blood pumping.” She replies, with a glance over her shoulder. “See ya!”
Bugger.