Dancing On Ice 's Kye Whyte has weighed in on claims the ITV show is fixed for professional dancers.
The Olympic BMX silver medallist, 22, is up against former Pussycat Doll Kimberly Wyatt, ex-Strictly Come Dancing professional Brendan Cole, The Vamps guitarist Connor Ball and trained dancer Regan Gascoigne in the semi-final of the ITV show this weekend.
But he’s not worried by the backgrounds of his fellow competitors, and dismissed speculation from viewers that the show was fixed in favour of the pro dancers.
“All I can do is just skate to the best of my ability and it’s in the judges’ hands and in the public’s hands,” he told The Sun .
“But when it comes to the skate-off, the person who stays is down to the judges and I’ve been the one they picked. So I’m grateful for that.”
The sportsman, who has been in the skate-off four times this series so far, said he enjoys “being the underdog”, and he’s delighted to see his scores aren’t too far off those contestants who have a professional background as a dancer.
“I love being the underdog, I love it so much. ’m just trying to live up to all their standards. It makes me enjoy skating more, knowing my scores ain’t too far away from them guys,” Kye explained.
He said training for the Olympics was “super hard”, and while dancing on the ice is proving to be difficult some weeks, he’s enjoying it because it doesn’t affect his day to day life.
“But I appreciate how hard skating actually is now. I came into the competition hoping just to do a few shows and entertain and have fun,” he shared, as he confessed he’s taking it just as seriously as when he trained for the Olympics.
Kye, who won a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021, is preparing for an emotional performance this Sunday, as he and partner Tippy Packard will be dancing to Stand By Me in a routine dedicated to Kye’s family.
The biker, who said winning Dancing On Ice would be “on a par to that Olympic silver”, will be honouring his coach and dad Nigel with the performance, as well as mum Tracey, who is battling leukaemia.
He insisted he tries his hardest “every week”, and has just one wish before his time on the dancing show comes to an end.
“I just want to get ten before I leave, from someone,” he quipped.
