Watching gymnast Amy Tinkler perform joyously to Pretty Woman for Team GB at the Rio Olympics in 2016, you’d never suspect the 16-year-old was having anything but the time of her life.
But last year, after she quit the sport, the star alleged she had been subjected to fat-shaming and bullying.
Her complaints against some industry figures echo those of a growing number of gymnasts, telling of a damaging culture within British Gymnastics.
She even admitted she’d rather forfeit her Rio Olympics bronze medal – coming third behind US stars Simone Biles and Alexandra Raisman in the women’s floor event – than have had to go through her ordeals.
She’s previously said she can “barely look at a set of weighing scales” and won’t have them in the house.
But Dancing on Ice is allowing her to leave those dark times behind, she says.
During our Zoom interview, she’s giggling and happy about her next athletic challenge as it carries so much less pressure than elite-level gymnastics.
Amy, now 21, is replacing Denise van Outen, 46, who was forced to pull out of the ITV show by a dislocated shoulder.
Of her ongoing body-image issues, Amy says: “I am getting help for that and doing this show has helped me put all that to one side and be happy again.
“There is no pressure about my weight in this show, no pressure if I don’t get through a routine. We are wearing tight clothes but I’m happy with that.”
She even adds: “For our first VT I was like, ‘I need the leotard higher cut!’”
But won’t the judges’ comments pile pressure on her to excel? “I’ve been judged my whole life,” she shrugs.
Or social media trolls? “Everyone can have their own opinion and that’s up to them, I’m at a place in my life where I have put gym behind me and I am happy with myself,” she answers confidently.
Denise kindly contacted Amy to wish her luck, saying: “You’re young, this is your time to shine” – and that’s what Amy intends to do.
This week Amy and her pro ice-dancing partner Joe Johnson, 26, will skate “very fast” to Fame – quite a feat considering she had never skated before beginning to practise with Joe as a DoI understudy three months ago.
Amy explains: “In gym I was never allowed to do any other sport in case I was injured. All my friends would go to ice rinks for fun at weekends but I was never allowed to do that.
So it took her a month and a half just to ice-skate solo confidently.
Nonetheless, she is undaunted by the injury suffered by Denise and adds: “I’m not nervous right now. I have competed my whole life, now I want to go and compete – but have fun.”
Her happiness is also buoyed by her relationship with Max Cinnamon, a singer who narrowly missed out on representing France in the 2018 Eurovision.
She celebrated their six months together with an Instagram post in September last year.
Last summer Amy, who started gymnastics aged two, competed regionally by seven, and represented Britain’s juniors aged 11, spoke of being devastated by her sport.
The star from Bishop Auckland, near Durham, claims there was intense pressure to perform, and that she and others were told they were fat, and humiliated by public weigh-ins at training.
She still sees a psychologist, and last year admitted: “If I’m offered a salad I have a breakdown because my head is wired to think I’m being called fat.”
She revealed she had walked away from the sport so young because of what she had been through.
She specifically claimed that she had been “terrified” by the head national coach, Amanda Reddin. She alleges that in one incident, she and other gymnasts were shouted at after sweet wrappers were found in their room.
“You girls have similar bodies to the Americans but they look muscly and you guys just look fat”, she alleges Reddin said.
Amy said she would skip lunch and dinner the day before weigh-ins, drinking lemon juice because she believed the acid burned fat.
Her complaints regarding Reddin have been closed and Amy is currently seeking an explanation as to why.
Reddin has vigorously denied any wrongdoing. Meanwhile, an independent review into allegations from a number of athletes about mistreatment within the sport of gymnastics has formally begun, led by Anne Whyte QC and co-commissioned by Sport England and UK Sport.
Amy remains part of the Gymnasts for Change campaign group. British Gymnastics chief executive Jane Allen retired in December after 10 years in charge.
She had previously admitted that British Gymnastics had “fallen short” in protecting athletes and said: “There are things that, as CEO, I take full responsibility for.”
A separate investigation into Reddin’s fellow national coach, Colin Still, was launched last September.
Amy revealed emails in which he appeared to express relief she was not becoming a “fat dwarf”.
He supported the investigation, and while claiming not to recall the emails, said he felt “genuinely devastated” if anyone had been upset.
Allen said she immediately apologised to Amy after learning of the incident. Amy says to us now: “Yes, I would give up my Olympic medal to have never have gone through what I went through.
“But I definitely feel proud of it, I worked hard to get there and I did that despite what I went through.”
British Gymnastics said last night: “While the Whyte Review and individual investigations continue, it would be inappropriate for us to comment further on well-documented allegations.”
Joe, who has become a firm friend since they began training together, says he is “proud” of his new dance partner.
A newcomer to the Dancing on Ice team himself, the Colorado-born athlete opens up about his own battle with mental health last summer after he lost his job with Cirque du Soleil due to Covid-19. He adds: “I was having a kind of tough time over the summer, a rough time with my mental health, feeling sad, and coming here and spending time with Amy every day has brought me out of that funk.
“It’s made me enjoy one of the toughest years of my life so she’s been wonderful for me too.”
Amy says when she started gymnastics as a little girl, it was because she wanted to “fly”, explaining: “Every gymnast dreams of going to the Olympics, but for me it was about me loving performing and the feeling of flying in the air.”
That little girl’s spirit may have been dented by her experiences, but now she’s hoping she can soar once again.
Although she laughs of her still-developing skating skills: “I’m not going as fast as I would run down a vault!”
*Dancing on Ice, tomorrow, ITV, 6pm.
*You can talk in confidence to an adviser from eating disorders charity Beat by calling their adult helpline on 0808 801 0677 or youth helpline on 0808 801 0711.
