Olympic Gold Medal winning ice-skater Robin Cousins is appearing in Grease as a singer. KATHERINE MACALISTER spoke to a very busy man.

I had to telephone the theatre before interviewing Robin Cousins to check I’d got my facts right. Is the Olympic Gold Medal winning ice-skater really appearing in Grease the musical as a singer? And is this a good idea?

Apparently yes, to both. Robin is appearing as Teen Angel who sings Beauty School Drop Out clad in the obligatory white suit, silver lapels and rhinestone belt. “There is a lot of ham involved, and you get a spark off my teeth when I smile, that’s if you can see me through the dry ice,” he smiles. “It’s very Liberace.”

But then Robin Cousins is well aware of the disbelievers, but with musicals such as Cats under his belt, and 16 weeks in Grease in the West End, he‘s already proved himself in the world of musicals. Add in his role as head judge on ITV’s Dancing On Ice and his recent appointment as an Olympic ambassador, and you can see how busy he is. And yes, it’s the same drive running through his veins which won him an Olympic medal that have also secured him such a successful media career.

“Hand on my heart I’ve never done anything because of what I thought I’d get out of it. If it hadn’t worked out I would have joined an ice show or something.

“Because Olympic skating and musicals aren’t a world apart – I was always more of a performer than a technician as a skater,” he says. “and as a kid I wanted to be Gene Kelly and spent all my time singing, dancing and skating, but it was the skating that took off,” he pauses and then laughs.... “for the next 30 years.”

Even Robin can see that this is the understatement of the year. Robin won the World Free Skating Championship Gold Medal three times (1978, 1979, 1980) and in 1980 World Championship Silver, capping his amateur career with the European Championship and Olympic Gold medals.

“Nothing can ever compete with getting the 1980 Olympic medal and I have a very vivid memory of that. A lot of things have come close but there is no equal,” the 53 year-old remembers.

When his career ended, instead of sitting at home feeling sorry for himself, Robin saw it as his chance to give the stage a go. While starring in Cinderella On Ice in America, the producers discovered Robin could sing and rewrote the show for him. After that he went to auditions like everybody else. “All they can say is no, and I don’t mind knocking on doors,” he grins “and if they like me they like me.”

Dancing On Ice followed, rejuvenating his career again. So what sort of judge is he? “The honest one,” Robin replies immediately, “because I have the credentials so I can’t waffle on when I know they’re awful. And DOI has struck a cord. It works and I do enjoy it and love the fact that the skaters are so committed. In fact the next series is being commissioned so we’ll be back in the summer.”

In the meantime, the show must go on and Robin awaits the curtain call every night. “It’s great fun to be a part of something as iconic as Grease. And I still get nervous before I go on, in the same way that I did waiting to go on the ice. You want to slink away but then you hear the music and off you go. And I can’t believe how good it feels and that’s why we do it, to get that feeling.”

* Robin Cousins is appearing in Grease, which you can see at the New Theatre from Monday. Call the box office on 0844 8713020.