LOVE is in the air and on the ice as Blackpool Pleasure Beach's answer to Torvill and Dean have been picked to skate together at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City next February.

Marika Humphreys and Vitali Baranov met when Marika joined the cast of Hot Ice in 1998. The pair formed a magical union both on and off the ice and haven't looked back since.

In 1997 Marika Humphreys' competitive skating career seemed to be heading for thin ice after she'd been frozen out by Torvill and Dean for the Winter Olympics.

But Marika's life was to change dramatically when coach Betty Callaway introduced her to Amanda Thompson, producer & director of Stageworks Worldwide Productions. Amanda offered her a place in her Hot Ice company for the Blackpool season.

Ukrainian Vitali had joined Stageworks in 1996 for a Hot Ice production at Siam Park, Bangkok, and joined the Blackpool cast in 1997.

Amanda spotted the unique chemistry between them at Marika's first audition when she asked Vitali to skate with her in his lunch break! From that very first audition Amanda paired them up in the show. Throughout the intensive six week rehearsal period and subsequent months of performance love and Britain's 2002 Winter Olympic hopes blossomed.

They began to compete, training for competition between Hot Ice performances and won bronze at the 1998 British Championships. Marika and Vitali married in 1999 before returning for the next Hot Ice season.

Marika and Vitali left the Hot Ice company at the end of the 1999 season to concentrate fully on competitive skating. They finished 12th in last year's European championships, 16th in this year's World championships and third in last month's Olympic qualifying event.

The 2002 Hot Ice company can be seen at The Arena, Blackpool Pleasure Beach, from 27th April to 3rd November 2002.