Jono, Ben & Megan - The Podcast - MINI: THAT 90'S SHOW - Tonya Harding

Episode Date: July 1, 2021

You may have heard about her in the news during the 90s, or even from the movie I Tonya which came out a few years ago. Now former figure skater Tonya Harding has joined Jono and Ben for a really interesting chat.In case you don't the infamous news story that broke in 1994, where just prior to the Winter Olympics, figure skater Tonya Harding was involved in a scandal after her ex-husband ordered a hit job on Tonya's biggest competition, Nancy Kerrigan.Tonya's story was turned into a film starring Margot Robbie, and the American says she's so glad that her truth was finally able to be told through the movie. She also touched on her claim to fame as the first-ever American woman to land the triple axel ice skating stunt in competition and why the move is so hard to pull off.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's our Flashback Friday, playing two tunes from 1994 this week, and of course the biggest news story from 1994 involved two US figure skaters, Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan. You remember this one, Nancy Kerrigan took a blow to her right knee just before the Olympics from a hitman. Turns out it was organised by Tonya's ex-husband. It turned into a hit movie recently starring Margot Robbie. The haters always say, Tonya, tell the truth.

There's no such thing as truth. Everyone has their own truth. It's an amazing movie and an amazing story told from, the movie tells from all different sides of that story. I'm very excited to have the one and only Tonya Harding with us on Zoom right now. How are you? Hi, how are you?

Very hot over there, we understand at the moment. It has been very hot. The hottest that I have ever seen in my 50 years. And it'll be even hotter for you because you're used to spending your time in ice skating rinks. Oh, yeah, true. So it must really hit home. Oh, yes. I didn't move much except from outside the table to inside to the air conditioning to the pool and back.

So Joe's in the pool with the kids. You're inside in the air con and you're talking to New Zealand's 29th most popular radio show, Jono and Ben. This is so awesome. I just love it. It's nice to talk to you.

Now, can we go right back to the start? You were like four years old. Was that right when you sort of fell in love with ice skating? Actually, I was three. Three? And my very first competition, I was four. That's very young, isn't it?

But that always seems like a common theme for successful athletes as adults. They start at a very young age. I believe so. And, you know, yes, I did boxing on the side to keep in shape and make money to live and stuff. And, yeah, you do not want to start that in your 30s. You want to start when you're very young. Well, because ice skating is such a tough sport to nail

and you nailed the triple axel jump. You were the first American woman to land that in a competition. Only six people, I think I was reading it, it might be correct, that has even nailed it since you've done it since in competition. What is a triple axel for people like ourselves that don't know ice skating as well as you? And what makes it so hard to nail? Well, the triple axel is a jump that you do three and a half revolutions

and you land backwards. The follow-up question was, can you do one for us now? On video? Yeah, on video. Not at the ice skating rink. I mean, it must be such a hard thing to nail. It must have gone wrong a few times. Trust me, I feel it nowadays.

I mean, I've broken ribs, my sternum, my rotator cuff is torn, collarbone, torn Achilles tendon, two times of breaking my tailbone. Jeez, you must be a nightmare for insurance. That's why I can't get insurance. Yeah, people don't get insurance. Well, that's true.

Yeah, if I was an insurance assessor, I wouldn't be backing you. I'm sorry. Yeah, the only thing I need, you know, problem with is it would be with my breathing. I only found out about 15 years ago that half of my lungs were not developed when I was young. Pretty much only athletic induced. So what, from just training so hard at a very young age? Yes. When you have a mother who tells you you are worth nothing, you'll be nothing, you're fat, you're ugly.

And so I still wanted to be better than her. I was not going to let her tell me that I am not worthy. Is your mother still around? I'm not really sure. I would think so. I haven't spoken to her in a really long, long time. Oh, that's sad, eh? No, I'm sorry.

But have you guys ever seen the movie? Yes, I have. Yeah, obviously goes into the relationship between you and your mum in the movie. Talk about I, Tonya, the movie. I mean, it was a huge international hit. What was it like to have that movie out there on your life? And did that change what you think people's perceptions were of you after obviously the Nancy Kerrigan thing that happened?

Well, it took 25 years for someone to come to me and produce a movie that proved my innocence. Will you tell us about that? After that incident, what was it like for you wandering around in public, going to the supermarket and those sorts of places? Would people say things to you? They would and very inappropriate. It was very hard. Sometimes with a couple of the things that had happened to me, I really didn't want to be around here anymore. And so I buckled down and

I realised that I am important and I'm going to stand up for all the things that I believe in. Well, it must have been nice then, I guess, when I, Tonya, came out, the Margot Robbie movie, to have, I was reading, a standing ovation you got, I think, at the premiere, and to have a chance... It was amazing. ...you to tell your story after having lived through what you were just telling us about.

It was amazing. Being able to see Margot, I had only met her once, and she had studied me and my ways. I mean, she took a beating trying to learn how to skate, and she did it. She nailed it. Well, yeah, that's probably a tough thing to audition for, isn't it? Have you speak to Nancy Kerrigan? No, I haven't.

I have not spoken to her or seen her in person since the Olympics. What, in 94? Yes. Oh, wow. That was the last time you saw or spoke to her? Yes. I can't remember. Sorry.

I know I did an interview when I was face-to-face with her apologizing for the people that I was around. I don't remember that year. Wow. What if we told you we had Nancy Kerrigan on the phone now? We don't. We don't. Well, I would wish her well. Well, yeah, we don't.

I just thought it'd be one of those good moments that if we did have her, it could be like a reunion, but we don't. We're not that good. No, you're actually gentlemen. I've always told Ben that I'm a gentleman. He's never admitted it. And some wonderful merchandise too at fanarch.com

I was looking at before. You've got some merch. I do, I do. I've been trying to think about having my own clothing line for quite some time. Oh, I like it here. I'm on fanarch.com. Yeah, it's good stuff.

Yeah, I was looking at it before. You got some bloody nice hoodies. Hoodies. America's Hardware. Well, and people also wonder, what does America's Hardware mean? Well, it's the American flag in the Bible. God bless it.

And God bless you, and God bless everyone. And God bless to you too, Tonya. Thank you. Want more Jono and Ben? You can wake up with the boys' weekdays from sex on The Hits and via the iHeartRadio app. Jono and Ben on The Hits Breakfast. Friends of Skinny.