Just rewatching the British Championships on iPlayer and thought I'd look up the BBC commentator, as I'd never heard her before:
@claireyoudale - jeez! No connection or previous interest in Skating, seems to have been chosen as she lives in Sheffield!
I really don't hold with the view that she as a newbie is representing some viewers. If you're not already interested in Skating you're not going to watch a livestream on the website for hours on end.
And she didn't even tweet about being at the British Championships on her Twitter account!
Mmmm. Are you sure it's the same person? Because it is hard to tell from her photos.
EDIT: It is. I just clicked through to her Instagram page to see her photos from over here, and the girl in the Profile Pic on there is definitely the same person that we saw in the video interviewing the judge.
Regardless, the BBC should have had more sense than to pick somebody who did not have a history (either as a fan or as a participant) in the subject they were talking about. Like, you would have thought they would have learnt their lesson after Kat Downes.
But, although it was not the intention, they did manage to unearth some absolutely brilliant commentators in the form of skaters that were invited to join Claire in the commentary box. So, it didn't turn out anywhere near as bad as it could have.
Which reminds me, I meant to post a reply to one of your posts over in the British Championships competition thread, but then the GP Final came along and I forgot to do it. It's hardly too late to do it now, is it?
CaroLiza_fan