TV

New Dancing on Ice judges say it’s “not possible” to be as nasty as Jason Gardiner

It would take some doing, anyway!

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Dancing on Ice legends Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean have made a switch for the upcoming new series.

Rather than mentoring the skaters and working on choreography, they’ve hung up their skates and will spend the series behind the judges’ table for the first time.

With their technical expertise and decades of experience on the ice, there really aren’t many better qualified to critique the celebrities’ form!

However, the role change means they won’t be able to help the celebrities find their way on the ice – so it’ll be time to sharpen their blades, rather than their skates.

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But will they be as nasty to the contestants as resident grouch Jason Gardiner?

At the launch event for the new series, Jayne Torvill said: “I don’t think that’s possible, really! We’ve got to be honest and if someone is not looking so good, or not improving, we’ve got to say it.

“Our first focus will be honing in on the skating skills, that’s what we do, that’s what we know. It’s about the whole package: someone who can skate, who can perform. They haven’t got an easy job!”

Christopher Dean added: “From our point of view, we always choreographed everything and we also mentored them, and so we’ve really changed roles from that support role, encouraging them and building them up, to critiquing them.

“We want to be honest, we want from our side to show who we are as judges as well.”

“We’ll have to see if we’re constantly positive, or telling people they should hand in their skates now!”

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And although the talented twosome won’t be on their skates with the contestants, we may still see them on the ice at some point.

Christopher said: “I don’t think you’ll see a bolero [from us] on TV, but we’re touring afterwards so we haven’t given up our skates yet!”

We can’t believe we won’t see Torvill and Dean on the ice when the new series kicks off on January 7th on ITV – watch this space!


Nancy Brown
Associate Editor