Dancing On Ice judge Jason Gardiner has admitted he can’t remember some of this year’s contestants’ names – despite watching them perform every week.
In an interview with the Daily Star he revealed he struggles to keep track of the celebrity skating line up.
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He managed to recall the names of the frontrunning contestants, and those most in danger of elimination, but claimed the middle of the pack were beyond him.
It seems only Kem Cetinay, Jake Quickenden and Donna Air have been good enough to stick in Jason’s mind.
Meanwhile Lemar, who has been to the skate off three times, is memorable for the opposite reason.
But he refused to even try to name the contestants who are skating around the middle.
“Don’t ask me to remember their names as they are in the middle section for a reason and they get lost in the middle section,” he said.
Jason said that if he didn’t remember a contestant’s name, it was their own fault – as they’d failed to impress him enough to be memorable.
“You don’t want to be in the middle section. I only remember your name if you have impressed me or if you have not impressed me.”
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Of course, Jason could rely on something other than skating ability to remember the names of people he sees every week – maybe a mnemonic device would be helpful?
As it stands, the remaining contestants, Alex Beresford, Antony Cotton, Brooke Vincent and Max Evans – you may want to write that down, Jason – have a few weeks left to make an impression.
Jason recently spoke to The Mirror about his often harsh criticism of the skaters.
He said: “I’m honest, I give tough love. Everyone else is lovely, lovely, lovely, but you will never improve if you’re being praised for being mediocre. Nobody wants mediocre.”
The star also insisted he’s a very different person in real life to the judge we all see on the show.
“I don’t know what happens, but when I sit on that panel, something else takes over,” he said.
“I’m paid to have an opinion and I’m going to critique you as I see it. When I watch the clips back I think, ‘God, is that me? How did I just say that to them? I love that person!'”
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