Dancing on Ice bosses ‘make skate-off change’ as they shake-up new series

Dancing on Ice has reportedly made a huge change to the celebrity skate-off ahead of the 2025 series to help the upcoming contestants cope with training demands. The new series, which is presented by Stephen Mulhern and Holly Willoughby, will reportedly allow skating couples to perform an old routine if they land in the bottom two, instead of learning a new one.

According to The Sun, the skate-off switch-up has been introduced by ITV bosses in the wake of the Strictly Come Dancing scandal, with execs reassessing how hard stars are pushed on the show. A source said: “On Dancing on Ice, in the past all the couples had to prepare a special skate-off dance which would be ready in case they were voted into the bottom two.

“But that meant on top of learning their main routine, any group dances – and sometimes more – the pairs were in most cases having to learn a dance that went to waste. Bosses have rethought the plan moving forwards and couples in the bottom two will now be asked to simply repeat the same dance that they performed on the main show.”

They continued: “Duty of care was also paramount on DOI but the new approach will reduce the demands on everyone and makes the most sense in terms of training schedules and efficiency.” OK! has reached out to ITV for comment.

Earlier this year, Strictly Come Dancing was hit with a series of scandals, which resulted in Giovanni Pernice leaving the show after his celebrity partner Amanda Abbington alleged that she suffered “bullying and aggressive behaviour” from him. An investigation by the BBC “upheld some but not all” of Amanda’s claims, while Giovanni said that he was “pleased” that the review didn’t find “any evidence of threatening of abusive behaviour”.

In light of the scandal, ITV introduced a 24-hour helpline for the Dancing on Ice celebs as well as a dedicated welfare producer for each contestant. Opening up about the anti-bullying hotline in a chat with The Sun, professional skater Vanessa Bauer said: “We were all made aware, all the girls were made aware and the celebrities, that there’s a helpline that we can call at any time of the day, every single day.”

“So we are very well looked after at ITV,” she added. “It is comforting to know and I’m putting myself out there – I think it’s very necessary.”

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