Skating is big in Chicago. There's a lot of hockey; a lot of the boys play hockey. And figure skating is big.
I spent a lot of money and time at pizza places. Golf and Stuff in Ventura, right off the 101, was my hangout. Skating Plus, right behind it, always had a good selection of games. That was the place to be when you were from Oxnard back in the '80s.
Skating was popular, but it wasn't mainstream. It had this underground following, and you could go on tours, win decent prize money, and make royalties from signature products - that's how I came to buy a house when I was a senior in high school.
I started skating when I was five years old in Pasadena, California.
No one in Montreal learns how to skate. You're just born that way.
When I started skating, it was such a small community. You didn't aspire to be rich or famous or make a career out of it because that wasn't something anyone had done yet.
We're so excited to skate in a Canadian market.
I don't think the demographic for skating really entails a lot of basketball watching.
In Japan, skating is like NHL hockey in Canada or baseball in the U.S., so pushing the limit is very enticing. Skating is their lives.
I've been skating since I was 10 years old.
I definitely was in the sequined, bedazzled era. We would put blue eye shadow up our eyebrows and glitter all over our faces. I probably put more effort into my skating outfits than my clothes.
I think growing up in skating, I was surrounded by the LGBT community, so I grew up very aware because I was around it so often, and some of the kindest people I know are gay figure skaters.
I never imagined getting to do what I love for a living and having so many people appreciate it. There was only one other skater in my high school and we were the lowest form of cool. Our classmates couldn't figure out why we liked such a loser sport, or why we hadn't grown out of it yet.
I was really a spoiled brat when I was a kid skating. Meals are cooked for you, you are driven to the rink, they make costumes for you. Your parents sit around and watch admiringly while you skate. You don't have to think about anything but skating. You're just plain spoiled.
I don't really remember a time younger than 5 years old that I didn't have skates on because all I can remember is every day, tying up my skates and a big smile on my face, excited to go on the ice.
I started skating at age 2 on roller skates on the South Side of Chicago, where I grew up. By age 4, roller-skating was something I really enjoyed. Everyone around me wanted to do the 'roll bounce' thing, but I was pretty much only interested in going fast.
Red certainly is the family color. From my mother and my grandmother, I've learned a lot of little tricks - the significance of color and lipstick being one of them. I started skating when I was eight years old, and my mom did my makeup for me back then.
Tony, Stacy and Jay really looked at life completely different and that played into everything that they did, whether it was skating or with their friendships. And for the three of us, we had such a close relationship off screen, that it was so easy to have that on screen.
Skating was put on the map, supposedly from me Everybody made a life and a livelihood, um, except me.
I relate really well to individuals who have a career and explore other adventures outside of skating. That, to me, is fascinating.
We need to remind people how fun skating is, how quirky skating is. If we went on TV and overlooked the cold, hard truths and the quirkiness, I don't think that's bringing anything to the fans.
Some skaters, they live for skating, and they are home-schooled. I'm very lucky my parents let me go to school and have a normal life.
If I'm on skates, I feel at home no matter what I'm doing. If they wanted me to sing and dance I think I could do it just becauseI was on skates. When I'm not on skates, though, I feel very strange.
Skating is now retro and hip.
I've been designing since I was 8. I started sketching dresses I could wear when skating. I was always involved in all aspects of skating, not just the technique, the choreography, the music, but the visual aspects, too - what I should wear.
