Dancing On Ice has been plunged into a fix row just days after the latest season started airing.
The long-running ITV winter sport reality contest returned to screens on Sunday night with a string of stars taking part in the new season. EastEnders star Charlie Brooks, Towie star Dan Edgar, and Olympic hero Steve Redgrave are among the celebrities taking part in the new season.
But viewers watching at home have become convinced that there is already an example of bias due to a new way the first round of performances has been judges. Sunday night saw six of the 11 original couples take to the ice in an effort to wow the judges.
And while some celebrities and their professional skate partners fared well, others paled in comparison. The judging panel – which consists of Olympic icons Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean alongside dancers Ashley Banjo and Oti Mabuse – cast their scores on the first batch of hopefuls.
The final five will take to the ice this coming Sunday and also be judged. There will then be no skate off – as the couple with the least number of votes will be automatically eliminated rather than the two with the lowest scores being left to skate for survival.
Viewers have questioned if the new set up is flawed – as it could be revealed that the second batch of contestants are all worse than the first six who have already performed and arguably a stronger contestant from week one could be eliminated by failing to secure enough public votes.
Fans have taken to social media to vent their fury over the rules, with one writing online: “I just can’t figure out how they do that fairly when one is a six way vote and the other a five way vote.”
Another typed: “Baffling to axe the week two Skate Off considering how much padding was in episode 1 with an extra act, bigger opening number and T&D routine.”
Going into detail, a third questioned: “I’m also baffled as to how the voting is going to work. I THINK its probably that only after the vote has closed in week 2, the public vote points will be allocated 11-1 based on how many individual votes each have received in their respective weeks.
“This however still puts everyone who skated in week 1 at a disadvantage as there is an extra person to spread the vote around that week. It’ll only be fair if the bottom 2 on the judge’s leaderboard skate in week 2.”
The discussion has led some Dancing On Ice stars to declare that the show has become ‘fixed’ as a consequence – with fans fearing their favourites from week one are at greater risk of elimination. Week one saw Coronation Street star Sam Aston, former Towie star Ferne McCann, Hollyoaks actress Chelsee Healey, football pundit Anton Ferdinand, presenting icon Michaela Strachan and Love Island star Chris Taylor take to the rink.
Charlie, Dan and Steve are yet to perform – as are comedian Josh Jones and The Traitors star Mollie Pearce. The show continued on ITV1 and via ITVX on Sunday at 6:30pm.
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