Dancing on Ice fans have slammed the show as a “fix” this evening, after contestant Regan Gascoigne was given a stellar score despite making a series of slip-ups during his routine.
Regan and partner Karina Manta performed a snake-inspired routine to Ed Sheeran ’s track Shivers in the latest live show.
However, Regan looked uncertain on the ice this evening, despite normally being a proficient performer and he was close to taking a tumble three times before the end of their routine.
The judging panel of Ashley Banjo and Oti Mabuse with head judges Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean praised the duo nonetheless and gave them their highest score yet of 36.5.
Host Holly Willoughby told Regan: “You looked a little bit deflated. I know you were hoping for a cleaner performance,” and Regan replied: “It is really slippery.”
As the judges gave the duo their feedback, Oti said: “It is okay to stumble. It makes you human, so well done for carrying on after that.”
Christopher Dean weighed in saying: “That was going to be the skate of the series for me, but you make a stumble and your marks go down.”
However, Dancing on Ice viewers were left confused by the string of 9’s given to Regan despite the mistakes.
“#DancingOnIce Regan is one of my absolute favourites but you can’t get a 9.5 following 3 mistakes,” one wrote.
Another tweeted: “How did Regan get 9s when he stumbled THREE TIMES? #DancingOnIce”
A third wrote: “9.5?? You having a laugh Jayne? #DancingOnIce,” as another tweeted: “9s and a 9.5? when he stumbled 3x? the score inflation this year is mad #DancingOnIce”
Another wrote: “#DancingOnIce this scoring is well suspect…” while another wrote: “He fully wiped out like three times how is that still a 9 #dancingonice #whatisthisshow”
A fellow fan chimed: “How is a routine with MISTAKES top of the leaderboard. The scoring is a joke #DancingOnIce”
After Regan, The Vamps bassist Connor Ball took to the ice for the first time since his dramatic skate last week - when he sustained an injury shortly before the live show - and fans were impressed with the confidence in his routine.
However, despite a flawless performance, Connor received a series of 8’s from the judging panel - leaving many to label the show a “fix”.
One wrote: “Regan trips and gets 9s but Connor didn’t once trip and gets 8s #dancingonice”
Another tweeted: “This show is such a fix, how has Connor got lower than Regan who stumbled”
A third tweeted: “The judges are a joke!! Regan is my fav but he made a lot of mistakes and got 9s, whereas Connor was pretty much perfect but got 8s?!”
The latest Dancing on Ice show saw the judges axe Liberty Poole after a tense dance-off with Kye White, who again had a close shave with elimination.
*Dancing on Ice returns on Sundays on ITV
