Dancing on Ice viewers call out ‘ridiculous’ format as Ekin-Su survives skate-off

Viewers referred to detail as ‘flaw in the system’

Dancing on Ice fans are highlighting a discrepancy regarding the first eliminated celebrity.

On Sunday (22 January), the second selection of stars performed one week after the first five made their debut.

It was revealed that, from last night’s celebrities, former footballer and Gladiators host John Fashanu received the lowest number of votes, and was in the dreaded skate-off alongside Love Island winner Ekin Su Cülcüloğlu, who found herself in the same situation the week before.

Both performed their routines once again, with the judges opting to send Fashanu home.

However, viewers found this “unfair” as Cülcüloğlu had an entire extra week to practise her performance, knowing she was in the bottom two. Fashanu, meanwhile, had approximately five minutes.

The show’s co-host Holly Willoughby said she was “gutted” by the decision as skater Christopher Dean said “nobody has improved more since bootcamp” than Fashanu.

One viewer, @Iambri_97, called out the show’s format on Twitter, writing: “The first dance off format on this is so poor because Ekin-Su has had a solid week to come to terms with it, to practise her routine without having a main show skate tonight.”

They added that “John Fashanu has had about four minutes, and skated tonight”, calling the format “ridiculous”.

‘Dancing on Ice’ contestant Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu (ITV)

Another called this a “flaw in the system” stating: “One pair have a week to rehearse the skate off, while one pair have 10 minutes.”

Dancing on Ice continues on Sundays on ITV1.