Ashley Ortega says her parents worked hard to support her skating

Sparkle artist and Hearts On Ice actress Ashley Ortega may be one of the leading figure skaters in the country but as the actress revealed it was not actually easy for her and her family as her parents had to work hard to support her sport.

In her interview on the Updated with Nelson Canlas podcast, Ashley revealed that her parents worked hard to support her and her siblings with skating despite it being too expensive.

“I'm not going to lie, figure skating is a very expensive sport. So nung time na nagko-compete kami, it was my parents who would shoulder everything,” she said.

She added, “If you really want to make figure skating a legit sport for you, I think you really have to save kasi siyempre, skate shoes pa lang mahal na 'yan. You have to have a budget for your skate shoes. Usually ang mga figure skates, mga 20k and above."

The actress also said that they had to pay for lessons, coaches, and the rental for the skating rink, which is separate from enrolling with a coach.

Ashley also said that aside from her, her younger sister is also a figure skater while her older brother was a hockey player.

“And every time I would compete abroad, ayan pa ang sakit sa ulo, so ikaw talaga mag pe-pay lahat ng accommodation, ng airfare. Accommodation of your coach, the airfare of your coach, ikaw lahat magso-shoulder. So it's a very expensive sport,” she added.

The Hearts On Ice actress then said that she's dedicating her performance in the series to her parents for all their hard work.

“They are the reason why I'm a figure skater. In-enroll nila ako when I was a kid. Nung natuto ako maglakad, sinalang na ako agad sa yelo. This is my way of giving back to them na nagbunga 'yung hirap nila, 'yung ginastos nila sa akin,” she said.

TAKE A LOOK AT SOME OF THE FIGURE SKATING PHOTOS OF ASHLEY ORTEGA THROUGH THE YEARS: