Former Dancing On Ice judge Jason Gardiner has claimed there are “lots of toxic people” in charge at ITV and blasted their Be Kind campaign as “bulls**t”.
Following Phillip Schofield's dramatic exit from This Morning and ITV, which airs Dancing On Ice, Jason, 51, has opened up about his own departure from the broadcaster.
The Australian choreographer, who had been on the panel of the skating contest since 2006 until he left in 2019, quit following allegations of bullying by Towie star Gemma Collins. Claims he vehemently denied.
Gemma wrote on Instagram accusing Jason of "bullying" her and targeting her with "personal" comments, such as when he compared her to a refrigerator.
Jason has since described his feud with Gemma as “traumatic” admitting he was still hurt by the saga and believes the way it was handled made it clear he wasn't valued in any way, shape or form by ITV.
After quitting showbiz he decided to duck out of life limelight and swapped it all to become an eco-friendly farmer in Portugal.
Speaking to The Sun in the wake of the current drama surrounding ITV, Jason has made his feelings on his former employer known.
He said: "The fish rots from the head . . . there’s a lot of toxic people still in control.
"ITV has its Be Kind campaign and has made this big push for male mental health — but it’s all bulls**t.
“There was no consideration for my mental health, my well-being, what I was going through."
Jason went on to say he felt the the whole thing was so distasteful because he hard for them, giving them quality shows and helping to make them a success.
In the same interview the 51-year-old claims Dancing on Ice host Phillip gave him a one word reply when he asked about his affair.
Phillip, 61, quit This Morning and ITV as he admitted to having an "unwise but not illegal" relationship after previously denying it.
Jason says he saw the runner with Phil on the set of the dancing competition and first started to hear rumours in 2020.
He said he sent Phil a private message on Twitter about the rumours - which Jason heard about around the same time Phillip came out.
"I said, ‘I know this is a very difficult moment for you and I support you in your decision to come out, but I also feel that I need to ask you about certain rumours that are going around online and are you aware of them?’," he told The Sun.
He claims Phil replied with one word: “Seriously?”
Jason added: “That was it. It was very dismissive and that made me uneasy because I thought, ‘I’ve reached out to you very authentically’, and it kind of really p***ed me off.”
A spokesperson for ITV addressed Jason's comments, telling the Mirror: "This isn't our recollection of events.
"This was part of a wider conversation outlining the possible ramifications of legal action, and it was felt it would be inappropriate for him as a celebrity judge to be judging an individual contestant against whom he was pursuing a legal case.
"This was no way intended to be seen as unsupportive, more a transparency about the process."
