'Dancing On Ice' fans complain about 'worst ever final' as disaster series wraps up

Dancing On Ice fans have complained that this year's final is the worst the show has ever seen, after a disaster series that saw five celebrities and two pro skaters forced to drop out.

Over the years, the ITV skating contest has seen some truly outstanding competitors, with the likes of Ray Quinn, Saara Aalto, Chris Fountain and James Jordan wowing viewers with fast routines and daring moves.

But tonight's finalists - Faye Brooks, Sonny Jay and Colin Jackson - underwhelmed the audience with slow, laboured routines and clumsy lifts.

Brooks' first skate was criticised for including long periods lying down, while Jay's first performance included a large section sitting down playing a ukulele.

However, the lower standard didn't hold the judges back from awarding some big scores, with Jackson hitting a perfect 40 in his first skate and Brooks and Jay not far behind them in their opening efforts.

Jackson was particularly highly scored by the judges, who awarded him perfect 40s in his second performance too.

But viewers didn't agree that his skates stood up as a 10 in the final against previous contestants.

Stand-in skater Matt Richardson managed to sum up the general feel of the series in the celebration of previous contestants, where he tripped over his skating partner.

The pair landed in a heap on the ice after the embarrassing fall.

This year's series has been plagued by injury, illness and accidents since the pre-show training began.

Rufus Hound, who was the series' first golden ticket winner, made an early exit when he tested positive for coronavirus and was followed a few weeks later by competition favourite Joe-Warren Plant, who also tested positive.

Denise Van Outen, one of the biggest names on the cast list, had to leave after just one skate as she broke her shoulder in pre-series training.

Billie Shepherd also left early on after a concussion, and Jason Donovan was the last celebrity to have to quit with a back injury that saw him out mid series.

Yebin Mok, the pro skater who should have partnered Graham Bell, was out before the series began after he accidentally stabbed her in the leg with his skate during training, and Brooks' original partner Hamish Gaman had to leave a few weeks ago with a finger injury, leaving her to skate with Van Outen's partner Matt Evers.

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Myleene Klass was another of the big celebrity names announced for this series, but was the first to be voted out after a shaky performance and wasn't able to perform with her co-stars in the final as she'd sustained a knee injury on the show.

Dancing On Ice also burned through its reserve list, having to call in both Amy Tinkler and Matt Richardson and eventually running out of replacement skaters.

Richardson was voted out after his first appearance on the ice.

The final is airing a week earlier than planned, and the show also had to take a break for a week mid-series.

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