Dancing on Ice's biggest fix scandals – from Gemma Collins 'rigged' to Brendan Cole fury

ITV’s Dancing on Ice has been keeping viewers captivated since it first began in 2006.

As several celebs bravely take on the challenge to wow audiences with their gravity defying moves and skating capabilities, this year’s competition has certain kept fans on their toes.

But although many have watched the show for pure entertainment value, Dancing on Ice has often been plagued with fix rumours as fans have been left questioning whether votes have been rigged.

Some have also been sceptical with whether certain celebs are purposely paired with professionals that are bound to do well.

With the final fast approaching next week, Daily Star has taken a look at Dancing on Ice’s biggest fix scandals.

Caprice Bourret

Model Caprice Bourret had a rather turbulent time when she appeared on the ITV show in 2020.

The businesswoman had a major fall out with her original dance partner Hamish Gaman and rumours circulated that she had threatened to “sue” ITV for “bullying”.

But fans were left perplexed when Caprice landed herself in the skate-off alongside Blue Peter star Radzi Chinyanganya but was still saved by judges despite her “wooden” performance.

Taking to Twitter at the time, angry viewers shared their thoughts.

One person wrote: “What a fix!!! They couldn’t put Caprice out after all that could they now?”

“Did the judges only save Caprice because she’s threatened to sue the show?? Bulls**t result!!!,” another exclaimed.

A third chimed: “The fix was already in before the skate-off even began #DancingOnIce #Caprice gets rewarded for her #Diva fit appalling behaviour by @ITV allowing her back, app deleted and a viewer lost.”

Professional dancers

Many celebrities from a variety of backgrounds have had their chance to perform on the ice, however, fans are becoming increasingly annoyed at those who are already professional dancers, with some claiming they may have a clear advantage.

In this year’s series, former Strictly Come Dancing professional Brendan Cole has caused concern amongst fans as many feel he has an edge over the other contestants due to his dancing ability.

Dancer James Jordan also did very well for himself when he appeared on the show in 2019.

Perri Kiely also had a slight advantage in 2020 with his dancing background.

However, Brendan, who is this year’s Dancing on Ice finalist, recently denied the claims.

He expressed: “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.”

Favoured professional dancers

Throughout the years, fans have also believed that the programme is fixed for certain professional skaters.

Fans have questioned figure skater Vanessa Bauer’s role in the competition as she is usually paired with a strong partner.

So far Vanessa has been partnered with Brendan Cole, winner Jake Quickenden, runners-up Perri Kiely and Wes Nelson and Joe-Warren Plant, who was a frontrunner before he had to withdraw from the contest due to testing positive with Covid-19.

Jumping onto Twitter, viewers aired their opinions on the star. One social media user wrote: “Do they actually want to give Vanessa a duffer. The level of favouritism.”

While another said: “The power Vanessa holds over the producers to always get paired with with best male celeb.”

Candice Brown fix row

In 2018, the popular dance show was hit with fix allegations again after baker Candice Brown was eliminated from the competition.

When faced in the skate-off against singer Lemar, both contestants received two votes each from the judges, despite this it was Candice’s time to go home which many fans felt was unfair.

Speaking about her time on the show on ITV’s This Morning, Candice said: “I was upset, I’ve loved every single second of it.

“There’s not been one day since I started this that I’ve thought, ‘I don’t want to do this today.'”

Votes rigged for entertainment

In 2018, fans believed Gemma Collins was kept in the competition longer due to her popularity and for entertainment value.

Viewers seemed to think that better skaters were sent home even though Gemma was fairly weaker.

Sharing their thoughts on Twitter at the time, one person penned: “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”

While a third said: “You cannot be serious #dancingonice Gemma Collins is making a mockery of this show.”

Happy Mondays star Bez was also the centre of controversy for the same reason in this year’s series.

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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk