Dancing On Ice fix row after furious stars finding out Joe Warren-Plant had secret skating lessons before the show
DANCING on Ice contestant Joe-Warren Plant is at the centre of a fix row after it emerged he took secret lessons before joining the show.
The Emmerdale actor, 18, underwent figure skating training before officially linking up with pro partner Vanessa Bauer, 24.
Vanessa’s fellow professionals are annoyed as they feel that it will give the young star an advantage over their amateur skaters who have started from scratch.
They are also infuriated by her insistence that he had no experience before the show.
Earlier this week, Vanessa wrote online: “Joe has never skated before and was definitely not a natural.”
A source said: “To repeatedly say Joe is a complete amateur is just nonsense.
“He might not be the most accomplished skater, as viewers saw on Sunday night with his fall, but he’s far from a novice.
“He took lessons in figure skating in Blackpool before he was officially partnered with Vanessa.
“He’s not broken any rules and he’s not kept it a secret from the producers, but it’s not exactly in the spirit of the competition where everyone starts from scratch.”
It is the second row involving Vanessa and Joe in just one day.
Today The Sun told how the show’s pros had accused bosses of letting Vanessa endanger their Covid bubble ahead of Sunday’s launch.
But Vanessa, who lives with boyfriend Rory McCall, is well within her rights to do so according to ITV insiders, who say it is only married couples who are both on the show that have to separate.
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A source said: “Many of us are livid. We have given up our families for months, and she’s carrying on as normal because everyone bangs on about how sexy she is.
“It feels like one rule for some and another for the rest of us.”
A second insider added: “If Vanessa is living with her boyfriend that’s an obvious issue. We don’t know who he might come into contact with.”
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