THE PROFESSIONALS ON ICE Kicks Off UK Tour Today

For the first time ever, the professional skaters who appear in ITV's Dancing on Ice will star in their own ice skating show, THE PROFESSIONALS ON ICE, and will be demonstrating their breath-taking skills on a national tour. The audience will be dazzled by national and world champions as they prove their prowess with hair-raising headbangers, daring double salchows and sensational split twist lifts. The venues are some of the biggest ice skating arenas in the country, with the biggest, the National Ice Centre in Nottingham, kicking off the tour today, 27 April. The tour will end in Dundee on 2 June.

THE PROFESSIONALS ON ICE, which has been in the making for the past year and is a response to public demand as there is no Dancing on Ice Live tour, will feature many of the Dancing on Ice champions, along with many of the viewers' other favourite skaters from the current and previous series (subject to availability): Matt Evers & Frankie (Poultney), Sylvain Longchambon & Brianne Delcourt, Mark Hanretty & Maria Filippov, Andy Buchanan & Robin Johnstone, Sean Rice & Jodeyne Higgins, and Lukasz Rozycki & Alexandra Schauman. They will be joined by surprise special guests at the various venues on the tour.

THE PROFESSIONALS ON ICE will be a spectacular combination of high adrenaline action, hit music and dazzling skill suitable for all the family, with special prices for the under 16s.

THE PROFESSIONALS ON ICE is created and directed by Dancing on Ice champion Matt Evers, with original choreography by The Professionals themselves, and is produced by Suzanne Shaw and The Ice Pros (2013) Limited.

The show is not affiliated with ITV or Dancing on Ice.

Tickets: £25 - £29 (under 16s £17.50 - £19.50). Box Office: 0844 871 8819. For more information, visit www.TheProfessionalsOnIce.co.uk or follow @ProsOnIce on Twitter.

UK TOUR DATES (correct at time of going to press):

27 April Capital FM Arena, National Ice Centre, Nottingham

03 - 05 May Ice Sheffield

10 - 12 May Slough Ice Arena

17 - 19 May Hull Ice Arena

24 - 26 May Murrayfield Ice Rink, Edinburgh

31 May - 02 June Dundee Ice Arena

PROS' BIOGRAPHIES

Matt Evers
Matt was ranked in the top 5 figure skaters in the United States. He has appeared in every series of ITV's Dancing on Ice since the beginning and won series 3 with Suzanne Shaw. As well as being a professional skater, Matt is a television presenter in the States and the UK, and he currently has two series running on the Food Network. He also has a successful modelling career and, as an actor, he has starred in many American sitcoms and dramas and appeared in the films Blades of Glory with Will Ferrell and Dark Shadows directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp. In September 2012, he made his London stage acting debut in the adult comedy Up4AMeet at the Waterloo East Theatre.

FRANKIE POULTNEY
Professional British adagio ice skater, Frankie was born in Sheffield. At age 18, she joined a French ice show as a chorus girl. She competed in series 2-7 of ITV's Dancing on Ice. She and Chris Fountain were runners-up in series 3.

SYLVAIN LONGCHAMBON
Sylvain, a French ice dancer, started skating in 1987, He competed for 15 years and was a member of the French national team for 10 years. He began his professional career in 2006 with the Spanish version of Dancing on Ice, where he finished second. He came to England in 2008 to skate in Blackpool's show Hot Ice. He has skated in the last three series of ITV's Dancing on Ice with Jennifer Metcalfe, Heidi Range and, this year, Samia Ghadie.

BRIANNE DELCOURT
Born in Toronto, Canada, Brianne first put on a pair of skates at the age of two and began skating competitively at the age of 11. Between 1993 & 1996, she won various regional and sectional titles, working her way up to national competitions. In 1996 & 1997, Brianne represented her country in competitions in Ottawa and Vancouver. Towards the end of the 1990s, Brianne turned professional and has since skated in shows including Hot Ice in Blackpool as half of the Principal Adagio Pair. Brianne's 11 years as a professional have so far seen her perform in shows all over the USA, in Hong Kong and in Mexico. She is descended from the legendary Barnum, of The Barnum and Bailey Circus. She has partnered Matt Lapinskas in this year's Dancing on Ice.

MARK HANRETTY
Scottish-born ice dancer Mark has been a part of Dancing on Ice for the last three years. Prior to this, Mark represented Great Britain at the World and European championships and won numerous international medals at skating competitions throughout the world. More recently, Mark won a global choreography competition called the Young Artist Showcase and the Virtual Skate Off, which cemented his position as one of the next generation of premier skating choreographers. In 2012, Mark was awarded the British Ice Teaching Association's Young Coach of the Year Award for his work as trainer to national and international elite skaters. He teaches at the rinks in Nottingham and Sheffield.

MARIA FILIPPOV
Maria began competing as a rhythmic gymnast when she was four. Aged eight, she moved on to skating and, at 14, she switched to ice dancing. With her skating partner, Maria became Bulgarian National Champion and competed in the European and World Championships. She was also awarded the title Master of Sport of Bulgaria, an honour bestowed by the Bulgarian Government in recognition of sporting excellence. In 1992, Maria retired from amateur competition and became an ice dance coach. In 1998, she relocated to Moscow to work as an assistant coach and choreographer, and later moved to Australia to coach the Australian National Team. She now lives in the UK. Maria has an impressive Dancing on Ice history, winning the Australian Dancing on Ice in 2006 with Jake Wall and the UK version with Ray Quinn in series four.

ANDY BUCHANAN
Andy started figure skating in Canada at the age of six, in order to improve his ice hockey skills. He was a national competitor in both pairs and singles skating, winning western Canadian titles in both. He turned professional in 1999, when he started performing with Disney on Ice. He joined Dancing on Ice for the first time this year, skating with Anthea Turner.

ROBIN JOHNSTONE
Robin is from Winnipeg, Canada, where she started skating at the age of 2. She competed at the Canadian National level in singles until she was 20. After competing, she skated in various ice theatre shows, before joining Disney on Ice, where she skated for over 15 years, travelling the world and performing numerous principal roles, such as Mulan, Jane and Jasmine. It is also where she met her husband Andy Buchanan. They have been skating adagio together for six years. They both appeared in this year's Dancing on Ice, with Robin partnering rugby star Gareth Thomas. Also this year, she skated in the season opener for the Boston Pops Symphony.

JODEYNE HIGGINS & SEAN RICE
Jodeyne and Sean are two-time Canadian World Team members, Skate Canada Pair Bronze Medallists, International Pair Medallists, four-time Canadian Pair Bronze Medallists, four-time Canadian Fours Champions, Silver Canadian Fours Medallists and 2001 American Open Silver Medallists. They have skated together for 23 years and have been married for 12. Together, they have performed in over 32 countries. They competed on Dancing on Ice in 2011 and 2012 and Sean performed in the 2012 Paralympic Games Closing Ceremony.

ALEXANDRA SCHAUMAN & LUKASZ ROZYCKI
Alexandra started skating at the age of six and has over 15 years of ballet and dance training behind her. She was a member of the Finnish National Team for many years. Lukasz started skating at the age of five in his hometown of Warsaw and went on to become Polish Junior Pairs Champion. He also represented his country at the Junior World Championships in 1998 and 1999 and at numerous Grand Prix tournaments. Lukasz and Alexandra met while on tour and became partners on and off the ice and performed all over the world in various ice shows, galas and on TV throughout Europe, South and Central America and the Caribbean. The husband-and-wife skating team have also performed in three Holiday on Ice touring productions. The pair first took part in Dancing on Ice in Sweden in 2008, where Alexandra finished runner-up. In 2009, they joined ITV's Dancing on Ice and skated in three series.

Pictured: Lukasz Rozycki & Alexandra Schauman