One of the questions I get asked a lot is whether my characters are based on real people. Sometimes they are, or I might name them after someone I know even if their character doesn’t resemble them in real-life.

In Strictly on Ice, I wanted to use a few names in honour of my favourite Dancing on Ice pros, even though the characters aren’t based on them.

Andy Gilkov – Andy’s character was named after Andy Buchanan, Dancing on Ice pro-skater. I loved watching him this year, skating with Rebekah Vardy!

Maria – Maria’s character was named after Maria Filippov, one my favourite DOI pro-skaters, who has been on DOI for quite a few seasons. She partnered with Ray Quinn in both series four and nine, the best celebrity skater of all!

Carmen Figueroa – I created Carmen’s character in honour of Ale Izquierdo, a skater from Mexico who was on DOI in 2018. I always try to include at least one Latinx character in all my novels. I used to live in Honduras and I like the opportunity to include Spanish-speaking characters. Carmen is a character you’ll see in another one of my novels – coming Summer 2021. (To keep up with my news, sign up to my newsletter and get a free novella to download!)

As for the main characters of Katie, Jamie, and Alex, they aren’t based on anyone in real-life. They are merely products of my over-active imagination!