Furious Dancing on Ice fans blast new series as format shake-up causes ‘abrupt’ end to the show

FURIOUS Dancing on Ice fans have blasted the new series after a format shake-up caused an 'abrupt' end to the show.

The ITV skating show returned tonight with a new batch of celebrities ready to take to the ice.

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The first six performed this evening, while the second group will skate next Sunday.

Usually, the bottom two celebrities end up in a skate off, but hosts Stephen Mulhern and Holly Willoughby told viewers that would not be the case next week.

Instead, the celebrity with the fewest viewer votes will leave the show immediately, without having the chance to skate again to try and save themselves.

Dancing on Ice viewers were left furious at the news, with one writing on X: "No skate off so what is the point?"

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Another added: "If there is no skate off can we at least know the Bottom Two?! I swear Dancing On Ice loves to copy Dancing With The Stars in America."

A third tweeted: "So if the voting is open and no skate off what is happening in the last 10 mins of show."

Indeed, the end of tonight's show seemed odd and 'abrupt' to some watching at home, as Torvill and Dean performed before the credits rolled.

One wrote online: "Tonight's ending was terribly rushed and very abrupt! Change the format!"

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Another tweeted: "What a pointless way to end the show."

The changes come as The Sun exclusively revealed the skate off was canned by bosses in a bid to help celebrities cope with training demands.

When the skate off does return, couples will no longer have to perform a whole new dance if they land in the bottom two and instead will repeat an old routine.

A source said: “On Dancing on Ice, in the past all the couples had to prepare a special skate-off dance which would be ready in case they were voted into the bottom two.

“But that meant on top of learning their main routine, any group dances - and sometimes more - the pairs were in most cases having to learn a dance that went to waste.

“Bosses have rethought the plan moving forwards and couples in the bottom two will now be asked to simply repeat the same dance that they performed on the main show.

“Duty of care was also paramount on DOI but the new approach will reduce the demands on everyone and makes the most sense in terms of training schedules and efficiency.”

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Dancing on Ice airs on ITV1 and is available on ITVX.