I admire and respect Heather for all that she is doing and achieving BUT

PLEASE...can we draw a line under the LEG ISSUE?

By now we all know she has an artificial leg and the problems it causes...they have been more than well documented.

BUT..if you sign up to do DOI it has to be a level playing field and unless you are considered to be the same as all the other contestants then should be on 'DOI for People With Physical
Disabilities'

When I watch Heather I can see that she has an artificial limb and that her skating and performance is geared around that as I'm sure the judges do too and consider that in their marks and comments.

Has she got a false leg? She should have mentioned it...

Agree, I am sick to death of hearing about the leg issue, who the hell is voting for this horrible woman.
Tana is worth 10 of her

There are thousands of paralympic athletes who wouldn't dream of talking about their disability every waking hour. That woman talks about nothing else.

Well she's desperately trying to work her way into the public's hearts isn't she? It'll be a cold day in hell before I fall for that one.

You're not alone

And me. There is nothing endearing about her at all.

They need then to stop mentioning Hilary's age and everything else that they mention on a regular basis

Up until now, Heather has been repeatedly questioned about her leg, she's not brought it up herself.

This week, with it popping out, it was bound to be an issue. I just hope the new socket does the trick and we hear less about Heather's leg in the future or that she plays it down when asked about it.

Totally agree!

If you sign up and take the fee...even if it is going to charity
just get on with it and don't keep making excuses.....

too young...too old...too menopausal...too shy....too insecure....too scared....too nervous...too tall...too thin..too pretty...too OTT...

for ****'S SAKE...just get on with it and show somw b***S!

I agree the leg thing is getting a bit tedious. On one hand I try to give her credit for having a go but on the other hand I wonder what she or they were thinking as it's obvious that she's not going to be able to do the tricker routines.

I thought this thread was going to be about the costumes. Why do they put Sharon Davies in "swimsuit" shaped costumes? They don't suit her long legs and muscly hips/thighs. Something with a bit of a skirt on it would look much more flattering surely?

So no, no more leg for Sharon either.

Wholeheartedly with you there.

I'm sick of this constant mention of the leg, the sooner she's out the better.

I have noticed however the Judges are being careful what they say to her.

I agree!

I couldn't agree more!
She HAS to compete on the same level as everyone else. If there are things that she can't do, then sorry but tough.

I can't stand the woman, but she skated ok last week.
This week was downright hideous.

She talks CONSTANTLY about her leg and I have heard it enough.
Talk about the skating please.

So if someone falls badly and has problems they can mention that, in fact it will be mentioned whether they want that or not, but an ongoing issue that Heather is having with her leg must not be shown.

The give away in the above posts is words like "That horrible woman" - Seems that the hate isn't coming from anything to do with her leg at all.

It will continue to be an issue next week just like someone else's injury would be and nothing would be said. Only Heather particular problem won't be healing up.

There is only one thing more annoying and certainly constantly repeated over and over again and that this the hate squads multiple thread starting by people who made up their minds long before the show started.

Any chance we could give that a rest as well?

Her leg will always be an issue for her, and it will limit her. I think it's necessary to report how it's holding her back so we can understand her progress - otherwise many of the audience would be wondering why she wasn't doing something etc. Certainly, without knowing about the leg change tonight I wouldn't be able to comprehend how she suddenly looked wobbly on the ice.

The important thing is for the judge's to mark her the same way as they mark everyone else. As for the public...it's up to each individual how her handicap is perceived.

I'm not sure about this. How do we feel when celebs have injuries that are shoved into our face during their VT's?

We've always realised (at least most of us have) that any show like this is not a level playing field. How can it be when it sets the likes of Todd Carty against Ray Quinn?

Anyone going into a show like this takes the rough with the smooth. An injury may be tough luck but it's part and parcel of what can happen and shouldn't warrant much of a mention in the grand scheme of things. Likewise, we know that the... ahem... more senior celebs won't be up to the tricks of the younger ones. We know that. We don't need it pointing out that Hilary at 107 years old will not be able to do the same things that Kieron at 13 can do.

We all know (well those of us with a few functioning brain cells know) that some celebs will be able to do more than others, some will struggle with certain elements and some will just generally be total pants whatever. It's actually insulting our intelligence to have to be guided through what exactly has meant that a specific celeb hasn't been able to get to grips with a specific problem.

Sure, make sure that any factor that is going to influence performance is mentioned at the outset; that's what the public vote is for in part - to offset physical and experiential advantages. After that though, there's no need. Okay we may not have realised quite what Heather's specific "leg related" problems were this week but surely most of us might have guessed they existed?

As others have mentioned, the good doctor's age has had a fair amount of reference so far. What next? T&D saying, "Erm... Dr Hilary will have even more trouble than usual with this week's required element due to the fact that he's a talentless coffin dodger and the viewers should make allowances for that"?

We know that every celeb is different. Some have far more to overcome than others. We don't need to have an update every week. Heather is going to have a tougher time of it than most every week. I know that and so does everyone else.

Celebrities always have injuries shoved in our faces. It's par for the course on the show (albeit Mikey's back pain wasn't mentioned tonight after the VT!)

Tonight I think it was necessary because it resulted in a drastic change on the ice. If it holds back her progress in other ways, it should be described briefly, not for three minutes of VT, but mentioned. All the other celebs have an overview explaining their problems. Kieran seems to have issues everywhere bar his skating!


I'd pay to hear them say that.
Last edited by Fudd : 01-02-2010 at 01:31

A voice of reason thank you.

God I dont care if she does mention her leg people need to get over it, she was trying to explain why she kept falling over.

OMG I cant imagine having such a disability. She did really well last week and then had to change her leg how hard must that have been. She doesnt let it STOP her though does she.

When she said it was now GLUED in I thought wow what a women she just doesnt care does she.

Why are people so down about her ........ oh I know because she was married to [b]saint Paul Mac

Her personal life should not come into her ability to skate.

Go girl leg and all..................

She was pretty cool this week, I actually liked how matter of fact she was about everything. She's skating - but her leg keeps falling off, and it's really annoying.
I never paid any attention to the McCartney thing so can't comment, but it's impressive what she's doing, I like her attitude.

This did make me laugh though

She was on Irish television last week bragging that everyone in Britain loves her now.

Well she must have a fair sized fan base, unless her family & friends are voting like mad. I was there last night and thought she got the worst reception of all the skating celebrities.

You're told to cheer/clap loudly but it seemed difficult for the audience to sustain that for her for any length of time.

Many people that I was chatting to in and around the rink and outside the studio seemed to think that they would rather see her in a "special paraplegic DOI series" so every contestant taking part has a disability, which would even the playing field.

I know that Strictly Come Dancing has a sort of spin off show coming soon - Dancing on Wheels for wheelchair dancers and don't see why DOI couldn't do the same - although obviously not for wheelchair users. Would be a bit difficult taking a wheelchair out onto the ice.

No, she is in a level playing field, and doing well.