Holly Willoughby brands Dancing On Ice format shake-up as ‘brutal’ ahead of twist
HOLLY Willoughby has revealed she thinks that tonight’s Dancing On Ice twist is ‘brutal’.
The 41-year-old confirmed The Sun’s story that there is no skate off this evening as part of a huge show shake-up.
The Sun told this week how Dancing On Ice bosses have made a huge change to this weekend’s show to ramp up the pressure on the celebrities.
For the first time in the show’s history, the two lowest ranked skaters will not face the skate off.
Instead all remaining couples, including Ekin-Su Culculoglu, Joey Essex and Michelle Heaton, will be scored by the judges.
Those scores will then be combined with the public’s votes and the lowest ranked couple will leave.
It means the Dancing on Ice celebrities cannot rely on being saved by the judges if they find themselves bottom of the leaderboard.
Ahead of the show, Holly said: “It’s musicals week on @dancingonice … big night tonight, no skate off!!! Your votes are sooo important…Brutal!!!”
A show source said: “You might think there being no dreaded skate off would be a good thing, but actually it means the celebs have no safety net – there’ll be no saving of favourites, or forgiving a misstep.
“The celeb will be judged entirely on how they skate and how the audience reacts to that skate.
“The stakes are higher than ever.”
Former footballer John Fashanu’s became the first to leave the new series last week.
The 60-year-old found himself in the skate-off against Love Island winner Ekin-Su Culculoglu, 28, following a public vote on Sunday.
John, who was part of the Wimbledon team that won the FA Cup final against Liverpool in 1988, was sent packing after performing to Norman Greenbaum’s Spirit In The Sky with his professional partner, Alexandra Schauman.