DANCING On Ice returns to our screens in just over a week and hopefully this year won’t be as cold as previous years.
This year’s cast includes Patsy Palmer, Coronation Street’s Mollie Gallagher and Drag Race UK’s The Vivienne as they lace up their skates in a bid for the winner’s trophy.
With the return date confirmed for Sunday, January 15, we take a look at the show’s biggest scandals to date – as we prepare to find out whether this year’s cast are lovers or fighters…
Caprice Bourret and Hamish Gaman had a fight during rehearsals[/caption]
Caprice Bourret and Hamish Gaman
When model Caprice and Hamish Gaman were first paired up in the 2020 series, it seemed like a match made in heaven.
Caprice even cried when paired with him, calling Hamish the pro she wanted.
This partnership has proven that appearances can be deceiving.
With constant conversations the pair did not get along, Caprice refusing to play with him again after only a week, “breaking up” with him, missing a week, before returning to the ice with Oscar Peters.
Eventually, she quit the show altogether and refused to come back for the finale.
Hamish was sidelined from the series in 2021 after sustaining a hand injury that year.
Vanessa Bauer and Megan Barton-Hanson
Pro figure skater Vanessa got more than she bargained for when she teamed up with Love Island’s Wes Nelson for the 2019 series, with Megan Barton-Hanson publicly arguing with her before the show even started.
Megan was dating Wes at the time and accused Vanessa of “trying to make headlines” when she announced her split from boyfriend Louis Nathaniel just hours before their debut.
In an Instagram post, Megan wrote, “I love that you decided to announce your breakup with your boyfriend the night of your first performance with my boyfriend!
“You never reached out or invited me to watch you practice, it pained you to show up to me last night you didn’t even make eye contact with me LOL.”
Megan called out Vanessa for using her breakup to curry favor with viewers[/caption]
He added, “I hope the tactical break gave you the headlines you wanted, baby.”
Megan later admitted she regretted going public with their feud, and Wes said they crushed their flesh after bringing it up.
“I don’t even know what they talked about, I just let the women get along with their wives,” he told Heart Radio, adding that he just left them.
Megan and Wes split before the series ended.
Jason Gardiner against everyone
No one seemed to piss off contestants, fellow judges, and hosts more than Jason Gardiner.
The star was involved in several feuds during her time as a judge, before finally leaving the show in 2019.
In 2011, Denice Welch’s then-husband Tim Healy barged onto the set to confront Jason on air about his hostility criticism of Loose Women.
Pointing a finger at her face, Healy chastised her for comparing her routine to “watching someone play Twister” and told her, “He’s 52 and he’s got four jobs! How many jobs do you have, huh?”
Jason then wrote a rant on Twitter against Healy, saying his “breath smelled like piss and booze” and annoyed “at least he knows oral hygiene.”
Jason was in for a shock when Tim Healy confronted him at the panel[/caption]
Later that season, he dismissed judge-turned-coach Karen Barber by telling her “If your opinion still mattered, you’d be on the judging panel.”
However, they then buried the hatchet, with Jason admitting in 2019, “As a manager, he’s unsurpassed. No one can bring our celebrities to Karen’s level.
This could continue throughout his time on the show, with Gemma Collins calling him a “tyrant” for his repeated beatings against her and her costar Matt Evers in 2019.
She also called him out for “selling stories about her to the press” live after a Marilyn Monroe-inspired performance in Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend.
When she finally left the show, Gemma posted on Instagram that “the karma was beautiful.”
Jason then struck down hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield for failing to contact him after release.
He said at the time, “Since it was announced I was leaving the show, I haven’t received anything from Phil and Holly. Not even a text.
“It’s painful, especially since when Phillip has gotten a lot of negative attention recently, I sent him a message of support.
“I thought they were going to reach out to me, but it turns out this industry is full of fake and dishonest people.”
Gemma Collins
It didn’t take Mystic Meg to know that hiring self-appointed diva Gemma Collins would bring drama, but we don’t think anyone was prepared for how much.
During her time on the show (another victim in 2019), Gemma was repeatedly blocked from the contestants’ WhatsApp group for her behavior and comments.
The comment was revealed by co-star Brian McFadden, who said he “loved Gemma” but found The GC character “a backache”.
He said of Lorraine: “She gets fired when she’s rude. She can be a diva to everyone at ITV, but when she’s a diva to us, she’s stuck.
The Love Island star also felt her anger when he called her out for sleeping at work while others were working out.
But by far the most public issue was with Jason Gardiner, whom she asked to stop bullying her with his hurtful remarks about her skating.
After a comment comparing her to a fridge, she took to Instagram to bring it up.
“I’m really tired of being bullied by this man…I wish you would stop…it’s very upsetting and hurtful, give up Jason, stop bullying me ENOUGH IS ENOUGH,” she said.
“I will no longer be bullied into making me feel uncomfortable going back to Sunday’s final! I can’t wait for Sunday but I will not be around someone who INTIMATE me…that IS NOT ACCEPTABLE on any level.
Dancing On Ice returns on 15th January on ITV1.
