I tried ice skating with a Hot Ice professional coach at Blackpool Pleasure Beach Arena

Since I hit 30 I've tried gymnastics, wakeboarding and rollerblading - I love anything that puts me a bit off-balance and so I jumped at the chance to have an ice-skating lesson with a pro.

Coach, Katie Stainsby, held my hand as she told me to 'waddle like a penguin'. It felt a bit alien at first, but I quickly found the confidence to glide away on my own. Before the end of the session, I was skating backwards and doing 'lemons' - a skating move that involves pushing the feet apart and then bringing them back together.

Learning how to fall and get up

Having fairly good balance and core strength made it a bit easier to get started on the ice - although there is so much more to this sport!

READ MORE: Inside the Blackpool Pleasure Beach workshops as the park gets season-ready.

I'm surrounded by skaters doing fancy twists, turns and expert tricks that are both breath-taking and intimidating to watch. How do you get to that level, I ask? Apart from practicing a lot, Katie says I need to get really comfortable with falling over! I'm told the more I fall, the more confident I will feel.

"Skating burns a lot of calories without you even realising"

And surprisingly, the former Hot Ice dancer who now works as a choreographer and coach, tells me that ice-skating is really popular for adults to take up as a new form of exercise. "It burns a lot of calories without you even realising. It also really helps people to unwind and be in the moment as you have to really focus on what you're doing."

READ MORE: My eerie and nostalgic walk around an empty Blackpool Pleasure Beach.

My hour-long session was a lot more fun than I imagined, and it really helped to have some expert guidance rather than getting on the ice on my own. I came away absolutely buzzing - it was a really nice atmosphere in the arena too and somewhere I could imagine going to get away from it all.

To find out more about ice skating at Blackpool Pleasure Beach Arena, and the Hot Ice show, visit the official website.