Who exactly are the British Eurosport guys?

For years, most fans agree that the British Eurosport commentators are the most fair and insightful compared to other commentators in the world of figure skating.

I know there's Nicky, Chris, and Simon. There were some others too. I couldn't find out much information about them the last time I Googled them which was a long time ago. I don't think I've seen their faces. I know one of them is a general network commentator and one of them used to be an ice dancer/pair skater?

I would love to find out more about them. Eurosport viewers, please feel free enlighten me.

I was wondering the same thing

Nicky Slater, from Wikipedia:

Nicholas Mark Slater (born 6 April 1958) is a former competitive English ice dancer, best known for winning a bronze medal at the 1983 European and competing at two Olympic games with professional partner Karen Barber.

Between 2006 and 2010, Slater was a judge on the ITV celebrity ice skating show Dancing on Ice. He returned as a guest judge in 2014, standing in for Robin Cousins.

Early life

NIcky Slater's parents John and Joan Slater were World Professional and British ice dancing champions. They trained at Manchester Ice Palace and then in Altrincham. Slater attended North Cestrian Grammar School in Altrincham.[1]
Skating career

With partner Kathryn Winter, he won the 1976 World Junior Championships.[2] When that partnership ended, he teamed up with Karen Barber. They won the bronze medal at the 1983 European Championships.[3] They represented Great Britain at the 1980 Winter Olympics, placing 12th, and at the 1984 Winter Olympics, where they placed 6th. They were British ice dance champions in 1985.
Post-competitive career

Slater has produced ice events, his first being Sport Aid at the NEC in 1986 in aid of the Band Aid Trust. He conceived and produced Skate-along a national skating fundraiser for Cystic Fibrosis Trust launched on Blue Peter and ran Ice Gala Tours in the UK to benefit Cystic Fibrosis and as independent productions.

He was Marketing and Communications Director of The Shaftesbury Society for five years, during which time he gained a Masters in Marketing from Bristol Business School at The University of the West of England. After this he endeavoured to develop ice rinks in the UK for five years.

He has produced ice spectaculars in the US as CEO and Creative Producer with his company Adventure On Ice working in partnership with Robin Cousins and Disson Furst and Partners. Together the partnership produced:

Improv-Ice for USA Networks (3)
The Starskates Series (8) for NBC
Skaters Tribute to shows for ESPN (2)

In 2005, he produced and starred in The Finding a Wife Tour a UK theatre show, in 2008 he created and starred in Ice Times and toured UK theatres skating with Louise Owen and Charlotte Aitken.

Slater has also contributed to Sense-National Deafblind and Rubella Association's City Ice Skate events.

In 2012, he focused on developing himself as a musician and music producer, and working on TV and literary projects.
Television

Following his retirement from competitive skating, Slater has worked as an 'in vision' expert and commentator on ice skating for both ITV and Channel 4, and as a commentator on Star, HDTV and on British Eurosport where he has also anchored a number of shows. He has been the "surprise" on an episode of Surprise Surprise.

Slater appeared as a judge on the BBC One spin-off show Strictly Ice Dancing in 2004. This was a one-off episode which aired on Boxing Day. In 2006, he joined the ITV celebrity skating show Dancing on Ice as a judge, a role in which he continued for five consecutive years.[4] In October 2010, it was announced that Slater would not return as a judge for the sixth series in 2011. During his time on Dancing on Ice, Slater also worked on the Dancing on Ice tour.

During the final series of Dancing on Ice in early 2014, judge Robin Cousins was absent for weeks six and seven of the show due to him commentating at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Slater stepped in as judge on the show, whilst Karen Barber was acting as head judge.[5]
Personal life

Slater is married to Christiane and has a son, Benjamin, born in February 2008.[4][6]

I come in here to warn you that I am about to edit the Predictions Game spreadsheet, and that the scores will be up the creek for a while. And what happens? I end up straying into The Edge, and replying to this thread!

I knew I wouldn't be able to resist posting for long!!!

TMC said:

Nicky Slater, from Wikipedia

Click to expand...

Here is a video Nicky (Twittter profile pic) put up on YouTube of him and Chris at Europeans in 2011:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7KGOFo-0HQ

And as a follow up, here is Chris Howarth's Wikipedia page, and his Twitter profile pic.

It is harder to find out stuff about Simon Reed, as he was not a sportsman himself. His background is in journalism, specialising in tennis and figure skating.

It may mainly be about tennis, but here is an interview Simon did in 2011 that you might find interesting:

http://stuartapplebyjournalist.com/2011/10/21/simonreedinterview/

Although he does not make a big deal of it (I only found out by chance), Simon is the younger brother of the late actor Oliver Reed.

Here is my previous comment about it on here (in response to a comment from the much missed Olympia):

CaroLiza_fan said:

This is WAAAAYYYY off topic, but since you were talking about actors, I was wondering if you realised that British Eurosport's figure skating commentator Simon Reed is the younger brother of the late actor Oliver Reed.

I know we don't get to see Simon on screen, but if you saw him, you would know instantly that he was Oliver's brother:

Simon
Oliver

Just thought you would find this interesting.

CaroLiza_fan

Click to expand...

And here is an interview I just found where Simon is talking about Oliver:

http://www.oliverreed.net/Press/press1990_21.html


Other stand-in commentators that have appeared on Eurosport include:

1959 British Men's Champion, and Chris Howarth's former coach, David Clements (Wikipedia);

6 time British Ladies Champion Joanne Conway (Wikipedia; Twitter profile pic; interviewed by Simon in 1990)

Scottish Ice Dancer Mark Henretty (Wikipedia; ISU Bio; Twitter profile pic) commentated with Nicky at the Cup of China this season.

Fellow Scottish Ice Dancer Sinead Kerr (Wikipedia; ISU Bio) also did a stand-in stint one time a few years ago when she was injured.

I think that is everybody. Apologies if I have missed anybody

CaroLiza_fan

CaroLiza_Fan! I was getting worried that you might have expired from pure joy!!!

A really interesting interview with Chris Howarth from a few years' back:

http://www.manleywoman.com/episode-21-chris-howarth/

I absolutely love the British Eurosport commentators and seek out their commentary on YouTube all the time. Many thanks to SabinFire, who I think is uploading many of the clips! They make some insightful comments, even some of their pronunciations are a bit.. They have such a genuine joy in what they're doing and really appreciate the sport.

Thank you very much everyone!

A few years ago, they didn't even have Wikipedia entries.

I think Robin might have done some commentary as well? Sometimes on Youtube, the fans mention it's Robin or someone else, but I have no way of knowing since I couldn't see their faces.

I finally get to put a face to a name.

Although their commentary has been widely praised, 2015 Worlds is the first time I've heard them live, or with a 30-second delay due to streaming. In this past Worlds, one of them started talking about parking his car during Florent Amodio's performance.

BlackPack said:

Thank you very much everyone!

A few years ago, they didn't even have Wikipedia entries.

I think Robin might have done some commentary as well? Sometimes on Youtube, the fans mention it's Robin or someone else, but I have no way of knowing since I couldn't see their faces.

I finally get to put a face to a name.

Although their commentary has been widely praised, 2015 Worlds is the first time I've heard them live, or with a 30-second delay due to streaming. In this past Worlds, one of them started talking about parking his car during Florent Amodio's performance.

Click to expand...

Robin Cousins (Wikipedia) normally commentates for the BBC with former tennis player Sue Barker (Wikipedia). In recent years, the Beeb has only shown Worlds and the Olympics, but this season they didn't show any figure skating.

Glad you got to hear the British Eurosport guys. Now you know why we love them so much!

karne said:

CaroLiza_Fan! I was getting worried that you might have expired from pure joy!!!

Click to expand...

Don't worry, I did get a bit over-excited (!), but I'm fine.

Apart from the fact that I have been avoiding posting on the forum this week, I didn't actually get round to watching the Ladies FS until this morning (and I've still to watch the skaters that Eurosport didn't show).

Between watching the Men's FS, the qualifying for the Formula 1 and MotoGP, and some of the snooker, not to mention getting my nose injured when somebody fall on me at Ju-Jitsu, I just didn't get a chance to watch the Ladies FS yesterday.

But, what better way to start the day this morning?! Watching my favourite skater win her first World Championships, and then watching my favourite Formula 1 team winning their first race since 2013 (and having their first win since 2009 with a driver I actually like)!!!

More of the same, please!

CaroLiza_fan

BlackPack said:

Thank you very much everyone!

A few years ago, they didn't even have Wikipedia entries.

I think Robin might have done some commentary as well? Sometimes on Youtube, the fans mention it's Robin or someone else, but I have no way of knowing since I couldn't see their faces.

I finally get to put a face to a name.

Although their commentary has been widely praised, 2015 Worlds is the first time I've heard them live, or with a 30-second delay due to streaming. In this past Worlds, one of them started talking about parking his car during Florent Amodio's performance.

Click to expand...

Before we ended up with Swedish commentary on Eurosport, we had British as well. I loved that, and still mourn the loss. They made every competition seem thrilling and exciting - they are interested in all skaters, even the lower placed ones, and never sound as if they'd rather be anywhere else. Love them.

Does anyone else think Nicky Slater has been abducted by aliens, and replaced with some kind of doppleganger?

Either that, or he has spent quite some time in the woodshed bringing his technical knowledge "more" up to date, practicing pronunciation, and generally getting things "right" more often (and correcting himslef when he makes mistakes). He also seems more comfortable with being the sole commentator when required.

Overall he just seemed more "professional" at this World's. I didn't notice him getting "over-excited" at all. And by the end he'd even reduced the number of times he said "x IN THE y" (eg. detail IN THE choreography, precise IN THE execution, etc etc), which was becoming pretty stale

In many ways I appreciate all this... but on the other hand it seemed there was a lot less of the Simon-Nicky "banter" and craziness, that I always found so funny and entertaining...

I love these guys and choose their videos over others. Why?
Because they are relaxed and cheerful.
They love skating and are not interested in putting some skaters down.
They don't care which country a skater is from.
You can imagine sitting with them, sharing a beer.

I enjoy their commentary and their enthusiasm for the sport. -Nice sense of humor too. It is funny but not too biting.

Here's some of my faourite banter from Chris/Nicky:

Nicky: "I once.... fell over in front of the judges and sat on Karen for a few seconds."
Chris: "Bet she enjoyed that."
Nicky: "Well, afterwards she said... she said she's gonna rip my arms and legs off, really."
Chris: "Ahh... okay."
Nicky: "Okay. So... I had to run off."

Starting from around 7.18 here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjgRhU9KZk8

During the Sochi Olympics I some how stumbled onto the Eurosport feed. I think the commentators were Chris Howarth and Joanne Conway. They seemed very even handed and spoke well of all competitors and didn't seem to feel the need to talk constantly right through the skating. Loved them! Every day I would stumble around trying to find them and once or twice I had to settle for other commentary.

I love watching the British Eurosport videos since I now watch primarily on Icenetwork with no commentary. I pick out which skaters I want to see again and then seek out the British Eurosport videos.

Scrufflet said:

I love these guys and choose their videos over others. Why?
Because they are relaxed and cheerful.
They love skating and are not interested in putting some skaters down.
They don't care which country a skater is from.
You can imagine sitting with them, sharing a beer.

Click to expand...

Yes.

Newbiespectator said:

I enjoy their commentary and their enthusiasm for the sport. -Nice sense of humor too. It is funny but not too biting.

Click to expand...

Yes

LRK said:

Here's some of my faourite banter from Chris/Nicky:

Nicky: "I once.... fell over in front of the judges and sat on Karen for a few seconds."
Chris: "Bet she enjoyed that."
Nicky: "Well, afterwards she said... she said she's gonna rip my arms and legs off, really."
Chris: "Ahh... okay."
Nicky: "Okay. So... I had to run off."

Starting from around 7.18 here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjgRhU9KZk8

Click to expand...

And most definitely yes!

Chris Howarth, former British men's champion, currently lives in the Chicago area and is the figure skating director of Glacier Skating Academy.
http://www.glacierskate.com/page/show/55704-figure-skating-staff

Note that Gracie Gold's ex coach Alex Ouriashev is on his staff.

Chris has known Gracie and Jason since before they were on the national scene, and his commentary on them is very nice, and based on personal knowledge.


Nicky's mother was a big time dance coach. Sometimes you will see him kind of favoring a team because his mom coached their coach. It is sweet.


Joanne Conway, former British ladies champion, is sometimes on the staff.

CaroLiza_fan said:

I come in here to warn you that I am about to edit the Predictions Game spreadsheet, and that the scores will be up the creek for a while. And what happens? I end up straying into The Edge, and replying to this thread!

I knew I wouldn't be able to resist posting for long!!!




Here is a video Nicky (Twittter profile pic) put up on YouTube of him and Chris at Europeans in 2011:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7KGOFo-0HQ

And as a follow up, here is Chris Howarth's Wikipedia page, and his Twitter profile pic.

It is harder to find out stuff about Simon Reed, as he was not a sportsman himself. His background is in journalism, specialising in tennis and figure skating.

It may mainly be about tennis, but here is an interview Simon did in 2011 that you might find interesting:

http://stuartapplebyjournalist.com/2011/10/21/simonreedinterview/

Although he does not make a big deal of it (I only found out by chance), Simon is the younger brother of the late actor Oliver Reed.

Here is my previous comment about it on here (in response to a comment from the much missed Olympia):



And here is an interview I just found where Simon is talking about Oliver:

http://www.oliverreed.net/Press/press1990_21.html


Other stand-in commentators that have appeared on Eurosport include:

1959 British Men's Champion, and Chris Howarth's former coach, David Clements (Wikipedia);

6 time British Ladies Champion Joanne Conway (Wikipedia; Twitter profile pic; interviewed by Simon in 1990)

Scottish Ice Dancer Mark Henretty (Wikipedia; ISU Bio; Twitter profile pic) commentated with Nicky at the Cup of China this season.

Fellow Scottish Ice Dancer Sinead Kerr (Wikipedia; ISU Bio) also did a stand-in stint one time a few years ago when she was injured.

I think that is everybody. Apologies if I have missed anybody

CaroLiza_fan

Click to expand...

BTW, thanks very much for the detailed explanation, CaroLiza_fan. I'm so glad it brought you out of your mini-retirement.

Once again, I am happy to be reading all your comments. The British Eurosport guys deserve much recognition. They did bring us hours of solace and sometimes even vindication for times we felt some skaters were shortchanged. They are a pretty reliable voice of reason.

They are cheerful and funny.

They are like walking into a warm, cheerful British pub that only talks about figure skating

MFarone said:

During the Sochi Olympics I some how stumbled onto the Eurosport feed. I think the commentators were Chris Howarth and Joanne Conway. They seemed very even handed and spoke well of all competitors and didn't seem to feel the need to talk constantly right through the skating. Loved them! Every day I would stumble around trying to find them and once or twice I had to settle for other commentary.

I love watching the British Eurosport videos since I now watch primarily on Icenetwork with no commentary. I pick out which skaters I want to see again and then seek out the British Eurosport videos.

Click to expand...

If it was the Olympics you were watching, it would have been Robin Cousins and Sue Barker that you were listening to. Eurosport didn't have the rights to these Olympics (much to our dismay!)

The description you give does sound like Robin and Sue. Especially the bits about speaking well about the competitors and a not talking too much.

Joanne is the exact opposite of that. She is ultra-critical of the skaters (often unnecessarily so), and talks constantly. When she was doing the TEB this season with Nicky, you could tell that he was getting fed up with her.

CaroLiza_fan