ITV axe Dancing on Ice after Torvill and Dean quit

ITV has confirmed that Dancing on Ice will end next year.

“Next year will be the 30th anniversary of Bolero and our Olympic Gold medal in Sarajevo and for us, it seemed a fitting time to say goodbye to Dancing on Ice. We wanted to go out on a high. We have loved every minute of the eight series and we’re determined to make our final series the best ever.” – Jane and Christopher

The ice skating reality show will air its final series in 2014 after Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean decided to leave the show.

The Olympic gold-winning duo had been part of the show since it began in 2006, teaching celebrities how to ice skate.

Dancing on Ice has suffered a decline in ratings over the last few years. Holly Willoughby decided to quit as co-host last year to concentrate on BBC’s The Voice. She was replaced by former Daybreak presenter Christine Bleakley.

Presenter Phillip Schofield tweeted shortly after Torvill and Dean announced the news on this morning’s Daybreak.

ITV’s Director of Television Peter Fincham says that the show has “every intention of going out on a high next year” after being a firm favourite of viewers.

The 2013 series, which concluded in March, was won by Olympic gymnast Beth Tweddle and her professional dance partner Daniel Whiston. Fellow Olympian, boxer Luke Campbell, finished in third place with former EastEnders actor Matt Lapinskas the runner-up.

Series 8 also saw the return of original judge Jason Gardiner, known for his acerbic comments towards the contestants. He was joined by head judge Robin Cousins, Karen Barber and Ashley Roberts.

One comment

  • Mick
    May 23, 2013 10:41 am

    I think ITV could possibly end up regretting their decision to axe the show when Torvill and Dean leave.

    Personally, I don’t think their contribution is all that pivotal to the show – it could just as easily continue without them with two NEW coaches.

    Also, whilst it’s true that viewing figures have declined over the years, this is true for programmes across the board in a multi channel age where viewers have so many different programmes to choose from.

    Thirdly, if they axe it – what will they replace it with & will it be able to pull in the sort of numbers DOI currently gets?

    ITV’s track record in creating popular, new programming in recent years hasn’t been very good.

    In fact, the last successful, hit show they were able to come up with was a programme called……DANCING ON ICE.

    There’s been nothing since.