| Matthew Gonzalez | |
|---|---|
| Born | Matthew Gonzalez 1 October 1986 Baltimore, Maryland, United States |
Matthew Gonzalez (born 1 October 1986), is an American figure skater, who competed in the 2010 series of the UK's Dancing On Ice with Eastenders actress Danniella Westbrook. He was born in Baltimore, Maryland.[1]
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As a child, Gonzalez had a passion for figure skating and performing. He began competitive roller skating at age 8. He competed regionally and nationally. After attending Nationals in roller skating, he moved to California where he was able to pursue figure skating and began pairs skating, and competed for several years.
After competing, Gonzalez went on to pursue other interests in the entertainment industry as a performer as well as in production. He went on to work for Disney Entertainment in California and Japan as a dancer, puppeteer, actor, acrobat, and entertainment host.
Gonzalez returned to the ice and began his professional skating career. He toured with Holiday On Ice's production as a principal pair skater. Aside from skating, he is a graduate with a Bachelors Degree in Entertainment Business from Full Sail University.[2]
Gonzalez first appeared in the hit UK series in January 2010 when partnered with EastEnders star, Danniella Westbrook for Series 5. The couple came second on the scoreboard in the first week, where only the female celebrities performed with the professionals. In Week 3, Gonzalez and Westbrook came fourth on the scoreboard, then in week four moved up to third. Week five saw them achieving second place, and then third in week six. In week seven, they came second again, along with week eight. Despite being second, the pair found themselves in the bottom two with Emily Atack and Fred Palascak. They survived the skate-off with the judges saving them four votes to one, with Nicky Slater opting to save Emily. The following week, in Week 9, Westbrook and Gonzalez came 5th on the scoreboard, and in the bottom two again, this time against Boyzone singer Mikey Graham and Melanie Lambert. They survived again in the closest judges vote ever, with three votes to two, Slater and Gardiner saving Graham instead, but Karen Barber, Emma Bunton and Robin Cousins saved him and Westbrook. Week ten was prop week and their best week of the competition, as they scored 27.5 (5.5 from each judge) and topped the leaderboard above Hayley Tamaddon, and they were the only couple to do this. They scored 23 points in week 11, but were eliminated in the skate off and missed out on the final. They came fourth overall. Gonzalez toured with Dancing on Ice: The Tour last year, being the Male Reserved Pro. It was revealed that Gonzalez would not compete in Series 6, however he confirmed via his Twitter account that he would be returning for Series 7. Daniella Westbrook, his previous partner, will support him.