Dancing on Ice fans have accused its broadcaster, ITV, of sexism, after Phillip Schofield was forced to present the show by himself on Sunday night due to Holly Willoughby testing positive for covid-19.
When the reverse happened earlier in the series - Phillip tested positive a few weeks ago - Stephen Mulhern replaced him alongside Holly. This weekend's solo performance from Phillip, therefore, led fans to accuse ITV of double standards.
@ConinaUK questioned: "Hang on. The other week when Phil had to stay away, Stephen Mulhern was brought in to co-host with Holly. This week, Holly is the one homesick, and Phil is hosting by himself. The implication that Holly wasn't capable of doing it by herself. Sexism, much @ITV? #DancingOnIce."
@alif_465 said: "I'm going to add my voice to the complaint that Holly couldn't host alone but Phil can?! #DancingOnIce #sexism"
ITV has confirmed to the Manchester Evening News, however, that the only reason for the different procedure was because it was "too short notice" to replace Holly this weekend. A spokesperson said: "It's because it was too short notice, which wasn't the case when Phillip was unable to host the show."
Josie Gibson replaced Holly on This Morning today. Holly will isolate for the foreseeable future, despite the laws no longer requiring people to do so.
Dancing on Ice's semi-final on Sunday saw Connor Ball and Kye Whyte eliminated ahead of the final, which has been pushed back by a week due to the FA Cup quarter-final falling next weekend in Dancing on Ice's usual Sunday evening slot. The Dancing on Ice final will therefore take place on March 27.
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