After a three-year absence, ITV made the decision to revive ‘Dancing On Ice’ in 2018, with the first series in its new incarnation returning with quite a lot of noise last year.
And let’s be honest… it wasn’t all that, was it?
No disrespect to anyone who took part, but the series passed the majority of people by without any fanfare, presumably due to the small amount of headlines the show managed to generate and the celebrity line-up, which boasted not one but two ‘Coronation Street’ cast members, and the then-reigning ‘Love Island’ winner as its star draw.
And yet, despite this less-than-strong start to the ‘Dancing On Ice’ revival, we’re finding ourselves genuinely excited for it? In fact… we’re starting to think it might turn out to be a little bit amazing.
It’d be easy to pin this on the fact that Gemma Collins was the first celebrity confirmed to be taking part, and yes, we can’t pretend that we aren’t excited to see how she fares on the ice.
Gemma has undoubtedly been the star of every reality show she’s ever been in, from her long-standing part in ‘The Only Way Is Essex’ to her stints in ‘I’m A Celebrity’ (a series she dominated despite leaving after 72 hours) and ‘Celebrity Big Brother’ (a show that led to her becoming a viral star a full year after leaving the house).
Even her appearances in lower-profile shows including ‘Splash!’, ‘Sugar Free Farm’ and ‘Celebrity Masterchef’ have ended up creating hilarious and ridiculous moments, so with the task of delivering a full-scale skating routine every week, we know she’ll pull it out of the bag.
Plus, a quick glance at her Instagram story shows she’s taking her training more seriously than anyone who saw her in the jungle or ‘CBB’ house might have expected, and she’s said herself she’s not there to play around or be the butt of anyone’s jokes.
But it would be unfair to say that our excitement is solely due to The GC, as there are plenty of celebs on the line-up we’re excited to check out, including big characters Richard Blackwood, Loose Women’s Saira Khan and Wes Nelson of last year’s ‘Love Island’.
Then there’s the biggest wildcard booking of the series, in the form of musical actress Didi Conn, best known for her portrayal of Frenchy in ‘Grease’.
Now listen, we don’t want to brag, but we’ve met Didi Conn, and she’s an absolute joy and, we reckon, guaranteed entertainment value.
At 67, she’s the oldest of this year’s ‘Dancing On Ice’ contestants, but she’s full of energy and pep (even if she did recently tell ‘This Morning’ that after watching herself on the ice she thought she looked “not only look like the oldest person on the show, but the oldest person in the world”!), and we hope she stays around for a good few weeks.
And then we have one of the more surprising bookings. Really sticking it to their supposed BBC rival ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ – whose own most recent line-up was criticised in the media for being underwhelming – ‘Dancing On Ice’ has bagged professional dancer James Jordan.
Now, we’re fully aware that James Jordan’s outspoken nature and controversial views don’t always make him the easiest person to like. But… with the likes of The GC And The Didi C (as we’re henceforth calling her) having already piqued our attention, we must admit we’re rather looking forward to seeing how he gets on, not just because of his existing dance background, but also because he’ll be taking critiques from Jason Gardiner.
Yes, Jason Gardiner is back for another series too, and we can’t imagine that after all this time on the panel, he’ll be in any mood for holding back. And given James’ dance background, we can imagine Jason being extra picky with his performances, meaning there could well be fireworks on the ice.
Meanwhile, Karen Barber – with whom Jason clashed during Dancing On Ice’s first run on more than one occasion – is returning to the show this year to reclaim her place as Head Coach.
She and Jason never attempted to hide their feelings for one another (who could forget when he went way too far and told her that if her opinion mattered she’d “still be on the panel”), so anyone missing those ‘CBB’ confrontations this January might want to tune into ITV instead.
Even seeing Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby – usually a safe, if unremarkable, pair of hands – back on our screens is noteworthy this year, with the pair having not presented together since she left for Australia towards the end of last year. True, they might not be the most dynamic duo on telly, but they do have chemistry and a real-life friendship, and we’re sure their excitement at being back together will translate to the screen.
And then, on top of all that, there’s the actual skating, which we’re fully ready to embrace in this post-‘Strictly’ winter slump we fallen into every January. When you’re feeling glum about the end of the weekend, who wouldn’t want to look at a load of sequins and bright colours for a couple of hours to distract themselves?
So yes, ‘Dancing On Ice’ might not be high-brow entertainment. It might not have Angelina Jolie or George Clooney on the line-up, and when you really sit down and think about, it might be little more than a low-budget ‘Strictly’ on ice skates.
But that doesn’t mean we’re any less excited about this year’s series.
‘Dancing On Ice’ returns on Sunday 6 January at 8pm on ITV.
Eventual winner Kimberly Birch later hit out at the show, claiming the girls all knew that 'Prince Harry' was an imposter, but were manipulated into thinking they were just being paranoid by producers, who urged doubters to speak to a fake therapist for reassurance.