Dancing On Ice judges Nicky Slater and Karen Barber reveal why they are at warBy Julie Mccaffrey
Julie.Mccaffrey@Mirror.Co.Uk Things turned decidely frosty between judges Nicky Slater and Karen Barber during last week's Dancing On Ice.
Their fierce flare-up over Nicky's low mark for celebrity skater Suzanne Shaw even spilled over into the ad break. But the row was more than just a professional disagreement - it was personal.
The pair were once tipped to be the next Torvill and Dean, but this dream was shattered when Nicky found religion. It ultimately caused the bitter breakdown of their skating partnership. The ice has now thawed between them, but here Karen, 46, and Nicky, 49, reveal why their relationship went into meltdown...
Karen says..
'Nicky and I first skated together in 1977 and from the off I thought he was better at it than me. He was older than me, came up with more ideas, and led me. So I always looked up to him and his mum Joan, who coached us.
We worked so hard together - late at night, early in the morning - but we were always behind Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean.
We came second in the British Championships six times, when they came first. When they turned professional I wondered if it was our turn to shine. And when we won the British Championships in 1985 I dreamed of more success.
Suddenly, Nicky changed dramatically. He found religion, becoming a Christian, so very quickly he had different friends, a different social life, a different schedule.
Religion offered him a lot of answers. Eight weeks later he had met and married his first wife, Jo. Skating - and me - became far lower on his order of priorities.
Nicky said he needed to work out what he wanted to do with his life because he wasn't sure if he wanted to continue as an amateur skater. But he took five months to make up his mind. In that time I was living in a tiny bedsit in Richmond, Surrey, with five other skaters - living off grants from Sports Aid and handouts from my family back home in Manchester.
I was so hard-up that it wasn't even a case of beans on toast every night, I'd have been lucky if I'd had that.
I kept turning up for practice but Nicky was never sure if he wanted to go ahead. I was stuck in limbo, one half of a dance team unsure if we'd dance together any more.
I hung on and hung on, but in the end I was tired of waiting for Nicky to decide my future. Jayne and Chris had started a professional show and were touring the world. I asked if I could join them, and was thrilled and relieved when they said yes.
I also asked if Nicky could be part of the show, but he didn't want to for his own reasons. I didn't want to leave him behind, but I did want to grab the opportunity to travel the world. Soon I was seeing America, Canada and Australia with Jayne and Chris.
At last I was making money and not a struggling amateur. But I knew that because Nicky had found his wife he was in good hands and that made me feel better about leaving.
It was nice to see him again at the start of the first series of Dancing On Ice. He's in a good place now, with his wife Christiane and a baby due any minute. And I'm so happy with my husband of 19 years, Stephen, and our two girls Emma, 17, and Laura, 15.
Nicky and I are friends, but if we're not closer it's just because our lives took us in different directions. And, of course, we are not afraid to have disagreements.
I stand by what I said last week, Nicky gave Suzanne Shaw the wrong mark. I have every confidence in my ability as a judge.
Let's see what he comes up with this week.
I was in limbo, tired of waiting for Nicky to decide my future
Nicky says..
Karen has been very cross with me for years. And I think I deserve that. I can only describe the end of our skating partnership as a meltdown.
Soon after we won the British Championships in 1985, I found religion and my entire life changed. It made me look at everything differently and ask if I was doing the right thing. That included skating.
Looking back, I wish I'd done things differently. Apparently when Cliff Richard became a Christian he wanted to rush off to Africa to help the poor people. But someone took him aside and said, "Why don't you carry on making music and just send some money?" I needed someone to say something along those lines to me.
Within weeks of finding God, I met and married Jo. We met at church. Looking back, we both agree that I should have let things settle before moving so quickly. My life had just been shaken upside down and inside out, even so our marriage lasted 12 years.
All of a sudden Karen and I seemed miles apart. It wasn't a great time for us. I was in a different place and the whole world looked different. Before long, my skating was gone.
I thought about joining Torvill and Dean's tour, but there was a scene in it about heaven and hell. I told them I couldn't do it because it was too intense. But now I realised I should have dealt with it differently and just said I didn't want to do that one scene.
It was a shame that Karen and I didn't skate any more. We were ranked fifth in the world for a time, when Torvill and Dean were ranked first.
We were billed as their heirs apparent, but that didn't happen. Karen went off to travel the world, and I tried to form a new life as a Christian.
Winning a friendship back with Karen is one of the joys of being on Dancing On Ice.
But I stick by my decision to mark Suzanne Shaw lower than she did last week. Karen coaches the celebrities and spends a lot of time with them, so I think she gets too emotionally involved, whereas I find it easier to stay subjective.
I'm so proud of what Karen and her lovely husband Stephen have achieved with their careers, and they have two wonderful girls. And I'm in a good place, too. I'm enjoying Act II of my life.
After seven years of trying to woo a beautiful woman called Christiane, she married me 18 months ago - our son is due today!
If Christiane goes into labour during Sunday's live show I'll be off. I'll zoom down to Brighton to be with her.
Karen has been cross with me for years.. and I think I deserve it
