Dancing On Ice ‘SCRAPS skate-off for the first time in the show’s history’

Dancing On Ice will reportedly scrap the skate-off for the first time in the show’s history in Sunday night’s episode.

Bosses of the ITV dance contest are reportedly hoping that the huge formatting shake-up will ramp up the pressure on the celebrities.

It will mean the stars will not have a last chance to be saved by judges Oti Mabuse, Jayne Torvill, Christopher Dean and Ashley Banjo, according to The Sun.

Format change: Dancing On Ice will reportedly scrap the skate-off for the first time in the show’s history in Sunday night’s episode

It has been claimed that the judges’ scores and the public’s votes will instead be combined, with the lowest ranking couple overall being eliminated from the show.

A source told the publication: ‘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.’

In last week’s episode, John Fashanu became the first star to be eliminated after facing Ekin-Su Culculoglu in the dreaded skate-off.

No skate-off: Bosses of the ITV dance contest are reportedly hoping that the huge formatting shake-up will ramp up the pressure on the celebrities

Meanwhile, Carley Stenson and her professional partner Mark Hanretty topped the leaderboard with the highest score of the series so far.

After all five celebrities performed during week two, John and Ekin-Su both performed brand-new routines in the skate-off.

But the judges all unanimously voted for Ekin-Su to stay in the competition as she included ‘more technical skating in her routine’, meaning John was eliminated.

Exit: In last week’s episode, John Fashanu became the first star to be eliminated from the ITV series after facing Ekin-Su Culculoglu in the dreaded skate-off

When asked by host Holly Willoughby whether he enjoyed the experience or not, John replied: ‘Oh, it’s been great,’ before saying that it was like the FA Cup final all over again. 

Co-host Phillip Schofield then asked the ex-footballer if he’ll ‘carry on skating’, to which he replied: ‘Oh yes! I shall carry on skating and who knows, I might even start teaching people.’

John and his professional partner Alexandra Schauman scored 19 out of 40 points for their sporty performance. 

It was a tough start to the series for fan favourite Love Island’s Ekin-Su, who landed herself in the bottom two by receiving the least amount of public votes.

The Love Island star recreated a memorable scene from the ITV2 reality show where she crawled on the ground and prompted over 100 Ofcom complaints from viewers who thought the routine was too racy for the family friendly series.

Speaking before the skate-off, she said: ‘I’m not going to lie I was really upset thinking what have I done wrong, but I’m strong, I need to work hard and prove myself.’

Votes: It was also a tough start to the series for fan favourite Love Island’s Ekin-Su, who landed herself in the bottom two by receiving the least amount of public votes