Arrivals and Departures Ice Stars

Previously on Ice Stars...

Ellie decided to stop skating completely.

It's a very, very sad situation for us all.

It was a bit of a shock.

Your fancy dance stuff don't weigh with me.

So are you looking forward to going on hockey?

I hear it's, like, a really good experience to do.

In Canada, every basketball court gets frozen over.

It's really good. I like it.

It's really cold, though.

It's like minus 11.

Josh gets back on the ice with his new dance partner.

Hockey player Rais receives an offer he can't refuse.

It was a dream come true, really.

OK, let's do this.

And Josh and Kloe decide it's about time they learned to cook for

-themselves.

-I think it's done.

I don't know. I need my mum here.

-ALL:

-One, two, three.

One of the best things about being an ice star is sharing your ice life

with team-mates, friends, and partners.

But even the best relationships don't always last forever.

And that's something ice dancer Josh is having to face up to after

splitting with Ellie last year.

I was really upset because we've

obviously been skating together for

four and a half years and we've done lots of competitions.

I didn't really know what was going to happen at the end of last season.

So I was on my own for a while.

At first, I found it quite hard,

because I was upset and it just made me think about Ellie.

But Josh picked himself up and has treated the new season as a fresh

-start.

-This season, I've got a new partner from Sheffield,

and she's called Lucy.

My long-term dream is to win world

and Olympics with a partner to become

the new era of ice dance.

Lucy's a fantastic skater.

She's very, very talented.

When you watch her skate, within a second you know that she's a dancer.

I tried out with a couple of people and me and Lucy were a good match.

I've seen him at competitions.

But being good at skating isn't always enough.

A winning couple need great chemistry too.

Sorry.

The chemistry between a couple, it's not something that you can teach.

It's nice to see her with a new partner

because he's got ambitions to skate at the Olympics.

But it took Josh and Ellie years to get to know each other

and to be together.

Me and Josh are still getting to know each other and chat to each

other and start conversations.

-You had breakfast?

-No.

I had, like,

two mouthfuls of porridge.

I could have eaten more, but I didn't want to.

Josh and Lucy have very little time to find the chemistry everyone is

talking about before they star at a special gala

in front of a huge audience.

In a way, it's kind of like starting again.

One, two, three.

One, two, three.

But it's really hard because you have to get used to the

way each other skate.

You can't grab on with both hands and twizzle.

At the gala in Sutton, all eyes will be on Josh and his new partner,

so nothing can go wrong.

The gala is to see what people think of us as a team.

All the seats were sold out.

We want them to remember us for skating well.

Rise and then press, push her ahead.

Stay on his hip.

As far as their skating goes, they look like a great match.

What would you say about me?

Er, small.

Blonde.

And is wearing my gloves.

-Only just now.

-Now all Jucy have to do is find the kind of chemistry

they'll need to be a winning couple.

It's all about getting to know each other,

spending some time with each other at the rink.

-Does that sound OK?

-Yeah.

All right, see you later.

See you later. Thank you.

Two ice stars who know all about

chemistry are figure skaters Josh and Kloe.

Look at that!

-Take it off.

-They're best friends off the ice...

There's a cat in the bag!

..and on.

With the start of a busy season,

they know they're going to have to

work harder than ever to keep pushing ahead.

The standard of our categories has really stepped up a gear.

We've just got to give it everything.

I just have really high expectations for myself this season.

I want to go and skate like I know I can.

In figure skating, every, like,

little thing could make such a big difference.

When I'm here, I want to make it count.

I think realising that every session we have...

-It really does count.

-Does make a difference.

-Every minute.

This season, I want to do bigger

competitions and just to kind of do more than I've ever done before.

So I decided to change a lot of things.

I've also, like, changed my eating, so I eat healthier.

Yeah. And now, like, we're doing it together,

it's so much easier that we're both, like...

We go to the gym more.

-Changes everything.

-Yeah, as long as we do our best.

I think we've achieved something in itself.

Obviously, we want a medal too, but...

Obviously!

We're going to smash it this season.

We really are.

In just a week, the figure skaters

will be taking on a major international

competition in Riga in Latvia.

But for Kloe, her new plan has already suffered a setback.

My session in the morning, it didn't go so well, so I'm a bit stressed.

She got herself so upset this morning because she was really,

really struggling to get the jumps out.

She has been landing them, and now

we're getting close to going to Riga,

I think she's panicking.

I really want to skate good,

just so my confidence is high before we fly.

Kloe, come here.

All right, so a really lovely face, smile.

-Are you in a better mood?

-Yeah.

You know you cannot correct things if you don't make the mistakes.

It's in training now that we put them correct for the competition.

All right? So have a good session.

Now, this is your centre stage, Kloe.

Eye contact to the judges.

And across, down.

Really strong in those ankles.

For Josh, the competition in Riga

will mark the first time he's competed

internationally at a senior level.

I'm going to step up to do some senior competitions this year.

It doesn't get any higher.

Some of the people that are going to be competing have completed at the

Olympics, which is going to be like...

-It's just going to be crazy.

-And now, very fast backspin.

Yes.

OK, Josh. Come here, please.

You are now understanding, you are skating with skaters...

I don't know, seven national champions,

yeah? This competition very important for us.

OK, right. OK.

The jumps are harder and you've really got to step up your game and

the triple triples have got to be in there all the time.

With each point more crucial than ever,

Josh is hoping the hardest jump he's tried, the triple triple,

-will be ready.

-Not bad.

I feel a little bit slow.

The triple triple is two triple jumps continuously back-to-back.

So it's a step up from, like, a triple double.

No problem absolutely at all.

-No problem at all.

-To get the triple triple out for Riga,

that would be great.

Come on. Last one. One more.

Absolutely beautiful.

Josh is feeling confident,

and it looks like Kloe's fighting hard for her jumps too.

One... Now take it through and over and through and back.

Good girl. Things are looking OK.

Much better than this morning.

Let's have a look at that three jump combo again.

Come on, then. Try once more.

Sometimes we just can't do a jump for

days or weeks.

I realised that there is no point to stress about things.

Right now, I'm feeling quite confident about it.

To make it to the top, it helps to start young.

And if the years of dedication pay off...

-Like Bambi!

-It could mean getting that big break.

Ice hockey player Rais has spent almost his entire life at the rink.

His hockey dreams began at five...

Nothing to me is as good as hockey.

He joined his first team at seven...

Keep right, keep right.

And his parents have spent hundreds

of late nights taking him to the rink.

That's straight in the hole.

And they even took him to Canada to try pond hockey.

It's like winning the lottery. It is.

It is. It's amazing.

When Rais was selected for England at 15,

it looked like things couldn't get any better.

But what he didn't know is a scout from a top Canadian hockey team had

been watching him play.

He said he'd seen me play and wanted to offer a chance for me to go over

there, play hockey, go to the school.

-Hey, Rais.

-All right?

It's something I've always wanted to do, since I was a little kid,

just play at a higher level. So it was a dream come true, really.

-Are you looking forward to it?

-Yeah, I'm really looking forward to it.

-It should be good.

-Good, good.

Whatever you want to do is down to you now.

You know, make the most of a great life experience.

Going over to Canada is like the biggest buzz that's going.

It's the heart of hockey, basically.

You know, over here we've got 45, 46 rinks.

They've got 11,000.

I could potentially go for three years if I wanted to.

Just never forget, you know, where you started.

Yeah. It definitely has not been easy but,

I mean, we've come a long way.

I wish you all the best, OK? And just have some fun, mate, yeah?

All right? Good boy. Well done.

Gosh, you're always getting bigger!

Rais is off to Canada in three days' time,

and tonight is his last session with his team.

It's going to be hard to leave this place,

but at the end of the day it's the

right thing to do at this time for me.

Stand your ground.

Stick active. Back.

That's all you've got to do, OK?

Let's go.

I've been playing with Rais for about nine years now,

so I've got a lot of memories of him.

It's a shame to lose someone with such a big presence.

We'll all miss him. Just wish him the best of luck.

And there's a surprise in store for Rais.

Coach Paul has brought back an old tradition used to mark a player's

send-off. It involves some very cold water.

Rais, in you come! OK, boys, listen up.

With Rais obviously going, yeah?

We've lost many a player over the years.

You might see him in two or three

years' time and he might be seven foot tall then, OK?

But all of you guys, yeah, you tap

your sticks and you wish him all the best, boys. OK, boys?

LAUGHTER

That bucket landed on his head perfectly as well!

That bucket was not... Not expected at all.

I've got to go home. I've got to pack and I've got to get ready.

I'll miss just the pure fun that we get up to here.

But at the end of the day, it's what I've got to do.

Rais's days at the rink may be over, but for Josh's new dance partner,

Lucy, it's just the beginning.

I think them colours but more silver in the light blue.

When I found out I was skating with Josh I was really,

really excited to be able to start

and see where the future will take us.

Lucy's been training hard to prepare

for her first ever public performance with Josh.

How many crystals do you think we've done?

Too many to count.

But it's no good skating well if the new couple don't look the part.

There's about... 700?

-Not yet.

-Maybe with the neck...

Now I'm with Josh, we're getting a whole new set of dresses for each

routine, so that's quite exciting.

I love this dress because my mum and my auntie,

they've made it themselves.

I don't know if Josh likes crystals as much, but...

..I don't know.

I hope he does.

You can never have too many crystals on a dress.

Lucy started skating at five years old,

and has had plenty of success on the ice.

This one was from last year.

I won the British Championships.

We've both been through partners who've decided to quit,

and it is hard moving from one person to another.

How much glue have you been putting on?

-Just a dab.

-And so I'm really looking forward to it with Josh now.

Can't wait to try it on.

I'm packing my bag and you're just

sat there doing nothing. Do you want to help?

The least you could be doing is helping me.

The time's arrived for Rais to leave for hockey school in Canada.

I've got two bags.

There's two kitbag-sized bags,

so I can fit more stuff in it.

This is the biggest thing that's probably happened to me so far in my

life. At the school I'm going to,

we'll be doing gym and hockey and team

training as part of school, and then lessons in between that.

If I forget one thing, it could be quite bad.

This is a suit. I've already been told by my mum about creasing it,

cos she spent quite a lot of money on it, so...

Oh... You decided to show up and help me now?

Got told I have to.

Well, you should have been doing it anyway, to be honest with you.

Younger brother, Aren, has his

sights on something Rais is leaving behind.

You're definitely not having my room. Not a chance.

OK, it's not what Mum said.

Well, it definitely is what Mum said because she said you're definitely

not having my room cos it's my room.

-Are you going to miss me, Aren?

-Why would I miss you?

I'm going to be absolutely fine.

You're going to be crying. You'll be crying.

-Whatever you say.

-Yeah. What you mean, whatever I say?

Whatever I say is right!

What I'll probably miss the most

about my brother is just making fun of each other.

That means you're going to slack.

I'm not going to slack.

-You're going to slack.

-Just watch me.

I will be better than I am now when you come back.

Him trying to be funny, and not having him around every day.

Rais, I'll love you and miss you.

Don't lie. Don't lie!

The boys might be all smiles now,

but Rais could be away for three years or more.

I know that it's hard for my parents to let me go.

I mean, I'm only 15 and most people probably leave home at 18 or 19.

With their dad at work and Rais' flight drawing closer,

the hard truth of the family

separating is hitting their mum, Jane.

-What are these?

-Now, I'm sorry, chubby.

Look at this dude. Look at this dude!

Oh, he's cute.

Rais is probably about a year old there.

The rink was opened at the same time he was born.

Rais has been going ever since the rink has been opened.

Them shades, though!

I'm extremely grateful to my parents

for supporting me from day one when I started playing hockey at five.

You were just sat watching the hockey,

and I almost remember the day when you said, "I want to do that."

I'm really, really excited for him.

I think it's absolutely 150% the right thing for him to do.

But as a mum, I shall miss my child.

Cos I'm used to following you around.

It's all right, Mum.

I've got to be working as hard as I can,

and making the sacrifice of my parents letting me leave worth it.

You want the best for your child.

He'll understand one day why I'm upset.

The longest I've probably been away from home was maybe for four days.

It'll be hard, being away your family.

-That's it.

-Are you going to have the photo?

Yeah.

But it's something you've got to do if you want to go far in hockey.

Cool, take care, my man.

It's only a few days until the

international figure competition in Riga.

Kloe's new healthy eating plan is in full swing.

And tonight she's invited someone special over to test her cooking.

So Josh is coming over tonight and

I'm going to make him one of my healthy

meals called a spring salad.

What can go wrong with a spring salad, if I'm honest?

I'm going to be pretty impressed if

she messes it up, so no pressure, Klo.

-Hey, Klo.

-Hi, Josh.

-How are you?

-I'm good.

-How are you?

-I'm good, thank you.

-Are you ready for this?

-I'm super ready.

I like food so much.

When I'm with Josh and when we have our off days,

we'll eat everything.

This looks so healthy, I can't do it all.

So obviously the salad.

And then strawberries and blueberries.

-Loving it.

-And then just the chicken.

Sounds pretty easy to me.

Oh, this is so disgusting!

Cutting up the chicken, I'm not very good.

You've got... Klo, it's OK, you've got it.

-Oh, I don't...

-No, no, no, no.

-I don't know how to do it.

Right, let me get the frying pan out.

Is it heating up?

Yeah.

OK, let's do this.

This is so intense.

-Wow, Klo.

-I just don't want to mess it up.

I've tried, like, eating healthier before but, like, I didn't, like,

fully go for it. I was, like, "Do you know what?"

I'm going to step my game up.

I'm going to cook chicken. So this is the first ever time.

I'm so proud of you. I feel really special.

This time I actually, like, 100% tried to eat healthier.

My mum would be so proud of me right now.

Can you take a photo of me, please?

Like, get the chicken in it, cos it looks really good.

-I think it's done.

-I don't know.

-I need my mum here.

-Let me check, Klo.

Yeah, it looks really good, smells really good.

I think that's done.

Are you excited for Riga, Klo, now that it's only a few days away?

Yeah, I'm excited. A bit nervous.

-Are you?

-I think that's normal, though, you know?

We want to go and skate our best,

so there's always that pressure that you put on yourself to

do your best. I haven't even started packing.

-Oh, me neither!

-It's time to assemble.

Oh, by the way, this water...

-Yeah?

-..is what, like, Hungarian Olympians drink.

-It's, like, really good for you.

-No way.

-Yeah.

It's, like, really good for your muscles and stuff.

Not only am I having a really healthy meal,

I'm having Olympian-worthy water.

-Literally.

-Klo, this is, like, the perfect way to set us up for Riga.

-I know.

-OK, let's eat.

-Are you ready for this?

-I'm not sure.

-Me neither.

-This could be absolutely disgusting.

And... Go.

Tastes really good.

-It's great, isn't it?

-Tastes really nice.

It's like my mum's.

This is goals.

Literally, I've never been so proud of myself.

What are you most nervous for in Riga, do you think?

Like, the spins, the steps?

Most nervous? Well, the jumps.

For me, the main thing is the triple triple.

It's been pretty consistent at the moment.

I just really want to make sure that

when we get there I do it really well in competition.

-Are you finished?

-Yeah.

That was so good. Thanks for coming over, Josh.

Thanks for inviting me.

Oh, it's fine.

It was very nice.

-You're welcome.

-I had pro water and everything.

-It was good.

And I'll see you in Riga.

-Yeah, I will.

-Oh...

See you later. OK, bye.

One of my most embarrassing skating experiences was, basically...

I went onto a competition with my dress on backwards. Yeah.

I fell over and then I ran across the ice to try and get back in,

and then I fell again.

I threw up on the ice.

Snapping my stick in a training session.

I, like, threw up in my hand and then, it was just like...

So they're like, "First place," and then they say my name.

And then I go and then I fall right in front of the podium.

Embarrassing moments might be part of life for our ice stars,

but for Josh, he's hoping he'll be

remembered for skating and nothing else.

To fall over at the gala would have been really embarrassing.

It's the morning of Jucy's first public skate.

OK, everybody ready?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

Word about the new couple has spread,

so they'll be skating to a full crowd today.

I think the seats are all sold out.

-Yeah.

-So, are you nervous?

At the very beginning you get really nervous,

cos you're standing there waiting for your music.

When I'm really nervous, I hold my breath.

So then I always have to be reminded to breathe and smile.

Let's see you smile then, Josh.

I'm not very good at smiling!

Skaters of all ages start to arrive at the rink.

It'll be a real test for the new

couple to win over the crowd and grab the limelight.

If they do well here, it could mean doing well at competitions too.

It was important for the performance to go well,

to be able to see how the

partnership's going before our competition.

Are we facing this way or that way?

Start facing this way.

-OK.

-Instead of, like, turning, lifting up and going that way...

-Turning our back and...

-Get up and go that way.

With hundreds of ice fans streaming in,

Josh and Lucy need to focus on how

to get the best from their new partnership.

When you're really good friends with your partner,

that really does help quite a lot.

With Lucy, at the minute, it's more

kind of like a business relationship.

So I think tonight's quite important to show that

we can skate well together.

One of our lifts wasn't going too well.

It hadn't been going right in practice.

The more I thought about it, the more nervous I was getting.

I start to get a bit nervous

when I see all the people that are sat in there.

When I saw everybody in the crowd and how many people there

were, there was loads of people watching.

All the lights were going out, we

couldn't really see where we were going at first.

Hopefully, it'll all go as planned.

Everybody was watching. It was really quiet.

# You've got a hold of me

# Don't even know your power

# I stand 100 feet

# But I fall when I'm around you

# Show me an open door

# And you go and slam it on me

# I can't take any more

# I'm saying baby please have mercy on me... #

When the lift was coming up, I was thinking, "Oh, no,

"what happens if it goes wrong? What happens if we fall over?"

We were gripping onto each other really hard,

just trying to keep it going.

We just looked at each other and knew that had gone well.

We're like, "Oh, we can breathe now."

# Mercy on my heart

# Consuming all the air inside my lungs

# Gripping all the skin from off my bones

# I'm prepared to sacrifice my life

# I would gladly do it twice

# Oh, please have mercy on me

# I need you to set me free

# I'm begging you for mercy

# Mercy begging you begging you please baby

# I'm begging you for mercy

# Mercy begging you begging you yeah. #

APPLAUSE

CHEERING

When everyone started clapping and cheering, we knew it had gone well.

It felt really good,

and it was a really big relief that we'd skated our first performance.

It was a really good feeling,

knowing we were ready for the competitions to come.

Everything is just working really well for us,

and we're hoping we can carry this

through to the future and see where it takes us.

Kloe and Becky battle against 50 top skaters in Riga.

Why? Becky, come on!

Josh risks showing his new jump for the first time.

Josh will have to show his triple triple combination.

Go, Josh!

And the Icicles have an idea which

could help them master their tricky new routine.

Just make sure it's overly exaggerated.