Jason Gardiner is reportedly furious that Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean have the casting vote on ‘Dancing on Ice’.
The acid-tongue judge was thrilled when he was asked to reprise his role on the panel for the skating show reboot last year, but he’s said to be annoyed that the legendary duo have all the power when it comes to which contestant gets sent home in the skate off.
A source told the Daily Mirror newspaper: "Jason was disappointed with the decision and that was down to Torvill and Dean, and Jayne having the casting vote. The week before, Chris made the final decision and Jason doesn’t always agree with them, so naturally he is annoyed. With his experience as a judge on the show he feels he is more than worth his place and his comments are often the most memorable."
The 46-year-old choreographer – who is the only one from this year’s panel to have sat as a judge during the original run – believes the foursome, completed by Ashley Banjo, should split the head role between them on alternate weeks to make it fair.
Ashley – who, like Jason, comes from a dance background – explained: "If someone said as a panel, ‘There’s four of you, a split vote is inevitable. Who should be head judge?’ I know Jason disagrees with me but I would say Jayne or Chris. They come as a partnership. Jason thinks it should be split between us all."
Meanwhile, although there seems to be some animosity between the judges, bosses have decided that they want to recommission it for another series next year following its success.
Phillip Schofield – who presents the show alongside Holly Willoughby – said: "We can exclusively reveal that our other show, ‘Dancing On Ice’ has been re-booked, recommissioned for another series. We will be back next year.
"So if you’re a celeb and you’d like to have a go at that, get in touch!"