Radio presenter Adele Roberts has announced the death of her “beautiful” mother Jackie and said she performed her Dancing On Ice routine in her memory.
The 44-year-old former BBC Radio 1 star and professional partner Mark Hanretty took to the ice on Sunday for an emotional routine to Clearly by Grace VanderWaal.
The pair earned 27.5 points from the judges, putting them joint top of the leader board with Olympian Eddie “The Eagle” Edwards and partner Vicky Ogden.
After the performance, Roberts posted on Instagram to reveal that her mother had died on January 4 at the age of 61 and said the last week has been “one of the toughest” of her life.
“Tonight’s performance was dedicated to the memory of my beautiful Mum, Jackie Roberts,” she wrote.
She added: “I didn’t want to say anything until I’d managed to get through our routine tonight. So apologies if it seemed I was overly emotional.
“My heart is broken and I miss my mum so much. Saying goodbye to her this week was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. My mum got to see the start of our routine … and tonight I wanted to finish it in her honour.”
Roberts shared a photo of herself showing her mother her ice skates, alongside a video of her showing her mother a recording of her practising the routine.
She continued: “To my family. Thank you for keeping my head up and for giving me the strength to carry on. Thank you also to all the amazing people who came to help us say goodbye to her this week. You brought us so much comfort standing by our side.
“Thank you to the whole incredible Dancing On Ice team for guiding me through one of the toughest weeks of my life. Especially you @markhanretty.
“I know how much you wanted to help me do my mum proud and I know it would have been playing on your mind all night. You are incredible.
“Thank you for teaching me to dance, to skate and joy of expressing emotion through my body. Your sport is so beautiful. I still can’t believe tonight happened.
“Thank you to every single person who has supported us so far. We are absolutely blown away by your encouragement and kindness. Mark and I are truly grateful and we promise to keep trying our best and give it 100%.
“And to my biggest supporter from day one – my incredible mum. Goodnight my love.
“I shall think of you and miss you every day of my life. Forever my hero. Until we meet again.”
On Sunday night, Roberts described performing the routine as an “absolute dream”.
The broadcaster, who announced in October 2021 that she was undergoing treatment for bowel cancer, before revealing she was cancer-free in June 2022, added: “Everything that I’ve been through was worth it for this moment.”
