Photo By: ABC - Craig Sjodin
Tonya Harding is back on our television screens, but this time, it isn’t on the ice. The 47-year-old is a contestant on Dancing with the Stars this season, where her fresh new start involves dancing the cha cha and salsa.
Since divorcing from Jeff Gillooly, as depicted in the Oscar-nominated film, I, Tonya, Harding has remarried and started a family. Read on to learn more about Tonya Harding and her family.
1. Her Father Passed Away in 2009
GettyTonya Harding of the United States during the Women’s Singles Figure Skating on 25 February 1994 during the XVII Olympic Winter Games at the Olympic Amphitheatre, Hamar, Lillehammer, Norway.
Tonya was born in Portland, Oregon, to LaVonya Golden and Albert Gordon Harding.
Her father passed away at his home in Tillamook on April 1, 2009. He was 76.
According to his obituary, Albert Harding was a member of the US Air Force for over 8 years. In his retirement, he practiced fishing, and hunting. His obituary reads, “Al loved his family and many close friends very much. He had a great sense of humor and kept his friends and family entertained with his true-life stories.”
The obituary continues, “One of his greatest joys in life was watching his daughter, Tonya, ice skate. He was always so proud of her. Al will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved him.”
2. Harding Says She Was Abused by Her Mother
Harding and her mother have very different recollections of Tonya’s childhood. The Olympic figure skater has held that she was abused since childhood. She even says her mother once threw a steak-knife at her. “I don’t think that there was more than one day a week, sometimes, that I didn’t get beaten,” she is quoted as saying.
In January, EW reported that Harding’s mother, LaVona, disputed her portrayal in I, Tonya.
In an ABC News Special, she said, “I didn’t abuse any of my children. Spanked? Yes, [I] spanked. Absolutely, positively you [have] got to show them right from wrong.”
Asked if any of the incidents from the movie did, in fact, happen, Harding’s mother said, “I spanked her once with a hairbrush at a competition,” according to USA Today.
3. She Has One Son
With Joseph Jens Price, Tonya has one son, Gordon. He is 7 years old.
Speaking on Good Morning America recently, Harding said, “I had my son at 40, so the first half of my life I’m actually maybe getting a do-over, so that’s why I’m here.”
Recently, Tonya told US Weekly that she would not be bringing her son to appear on Dancing with the Stars. “We chose to keep my son out of the public eye for his safety. I’m sorry, but this world can sometimes be cruel.
“This is the most amazing show ever. I haven’t felt this alive in so long, except when I found out I was going to have my son.”
4. She Is Married to Joseph Jens Price
GettyTonya Harding (L) and Joseph Jens Price attend Premiere Of Neon’s “I, Tonya” at the Egyptian Theatre on December 5, 2017 in Hollywood, California.
In 2010, Tonya married Joseph Jens Price. The couple met at a restaurant i n Washington. According to a New York Times article, Price was singing karaoke when Harding first encountered him.
She tells the Times, “I’m going, damn, he’s got beautiful eyes. I mean the eyes are the center to your soul, O.K.? You might have a nice butt, but I want to see the eyes.” It was Harding who proposed to Price. The outlet writes, “She had never met anyone so gentle or kind; she had never known a man to just love her, not for her skating abilities or for what she might potentially become, but for her.”
Price works as a heating and air conditioning worker. Together, the couple lives in Oregon.
5. She Was Married to Jeff Gillooly from 1990 to 1993
GettyJeff Gillooly, ex-husband of figure skater Tonya Harding, listens to questions from cameramen 15 January 1994 after picking up the mail outside the rural cabin the couple shared.
Tonya was married to her husband, Jeff Gillooly, for three years in the early 1990s.
Gillooly now goes by Jeff Stone, and is the man responsbile for masterminding the incident that prevented Nancy Kerrigan from competing in the US Figure Skating Championships.
He was released from prison in 1995, though his years after prison were far from bright. According to DeadSpin, he got in trouble with the law a few times after being released. He received a restraining order by his ex-wife, he filed one against her, he was arrested on charges of assault, DUI, and driving with a suspended license. The outlet reports that he has been sued a number of times and has declared bankruptcy.
In 2005, Gillooly’s ex-wife, Nancy Sharkey, committed suicide at a rehab clinic. He is now married to a woman named Christy Novasio.