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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Vicki Newman

Dancing On Ice's history of fix claims: From dance backgrounds to popularity contest

Dancing On Ice is the high-octane, danger-filled entertainment we all need to fill those rainy weekends at the beginning of the year.

But it's rare the show goes off without a hitch.

Most recently, the ITV skating contest has faced a number of woes due to the coronavirus pandemic, with stars and pros forced to isolate and miss shows while they recover or even pull out of the show.

And aside from that, there's the fix claims that seem to plague the show every year.

Here, we take a look at some of the fix claims brought up this series and in recent years, and the reasons behind them...

Dancing backgrounds

It seems almost every year that fans feel one particular contestant has an unfair advantage over the others.

This year, it's former Strictly Come Dancing professional Brendan Cole who has the edge, according to viewers.

But Brendan has denied he has an advantage because of his dance training.

He said: "I think everybody’s got their own strength and weakness.

"And you can’t compare apples with pears. Yes, I find it easy to pick up choreography because it’s something I’ve done for many years, whereas somebody else may struggle.

"There’s definitely a competition within a competition for the ones that have dance experience, of which there are a few."

Entertainment value

In 2019, some fans suggested that the vote was being fixed to keep Gemma Collins in the contest for the sake of her popularity and entertainment value.

As people deemed better skaters than her went home, some fans were horrified to see Gemma survive, especially the week she fell on her face on the ice.

One viewer said at the time: "What a bloody joke Gemma is making of this show. She fell on purpose to make it all about herself again. A decent skater who actually works hard will go home tonight. #dancingonice"

Another tweeted: "Fair play for carrying on but RIDICULOUS that your skating is so far behind the others & u fall over but you go through!!!! #DancingOnIce"

A third added: "You cannot be serious #dancingonice Gemma Collins is making a mockery of this show"

But of course, it's viewers' votes that decide who is going to be in the skate off.

Favoured professionals

Some fans of the show even think the show is fixed for certain professionals.

Many believe that Vanessa Bauer is always given a good partner to ensure she has as much time in the contest as possible.

Perri Kiely and partner Vanessa Bauer (Matt Frost)

This year she's paired with Brendan Cole, and has previously teamed up with winner Jake Quickenden, runners-up Perri Kiely and Wes Nelson and Joe-Warren Plant, who was a frontrunner before he was forced to withdraw after a positive Covid test.

One person tweeted: "Do they actually want to give Vanessa a duffer. The level of favouritism. #DancingOnIce."

Another commented: "The power Vanessa holds over the producers to always get paired with with best male celeb #dancingonice #doi."

A third person asked: "how comes vanessa always get decent partners? #dancingonice."

Judges' scores

Back in 2018, fans were upset with the judges, who they claimed had already made their minds up about who would make it to the final.

The accusation came after former X Factor star Jake Quickenden received 9.5s from the judges despite making a mistake.

Vanessa and Jake (Matt Frost/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

Jayne Torvill, Christopher Dean and Ashley Banjo said they would have scored him 10s if he hadn't made a mistake, prompting fans to predict that they'd already decided ahead of time what scores they'd be giving him.

And Chris only exacerbated the rumours by telling Jake he would "definitely" be in the final.

People claimed on Twitter that the events proved the show was a fix, but of course the judges don't discuss the marks they're going to give and secretly enter their scores into a computer after each performance.

* Dancing On Ice airs Sundays on ITV

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