New Dancing On Ice series kicks off with stumbles and tears

The new series of Dancing On Ice has kicked off with stumbles and tears.

Rapper Lady Leshurr became the first celebrity competitor to find themselves in next week’s skate off after she was at the bottom of the pile following the public vote.

This was despite the fact she earned 25 points from the judges and was joint top of their leaderboard.

The judges put comedian Rufus Hound and his partner Robin Johnstone straight through to week three of the competition by giving the pair a golden ticket after voting their performance the strongest.

After they delivered their verdict, Hound said: “I spent most of this year being not terribly emotionally stable.”

He added: “I will keep trying, thank you very much.”

Judge Ashley Banjo said the pair could be “the dark horses of this series”.

The judges gave the pair a golden ticket despite scoring them 23.5, which put them fifth on their leaderboard.

Emmerdale star Joe-Warren Plant took a tumble during his routine with partner Vanessa Bauer but ended up joint top of the judges’ leaderboard after scoring 25 points.

Christopher Dean, who was head judge for the evening, said: “He was smiling when he fell down, he was smiling when he got up and he’s still smiling.”

Denise van Outen and her partner Matt Evers were spared from the skate off despite coming bottom of the judges’ leaderboard with a score of 19.5.

The TV presenter and actress skated with strapping on her shoulder after she partially dislocated it during training earlier this week.

Dean said of her performance: “Well nobody said it would be easy. You have come from treading the boards to gliding on the ice and it is a big step.”

He added that her performance was “tentative” and she was “holding on to Matt a little bit” while she was skating.

Dean said he expected her to improve once her shoulder has healed further.

Rebekah Vardy and Jason Donovan both gave strong performances which were each scored 25 points by the judges, meaning they were given the joint top score alongside Lady Leshurr and Plant.

Other celebrities taking part in the series include Coronation Street’s Faye Brookes, Towie cast member Billie Faiers, former Olympic hurdler Colin Jackson, television presenter Myleene Klass, former Olympic skier Graham Bell and radio host Sonny Jay.

They performed in a group number during Sunday’s show and will skate their first competitive routines next week.

The new series of Dancing On Ice is subject to strict coronavirus rules and the panel were separated by Perspex screens.

The episode featured a routine by the programme’s professional skaters.

Opening the programme, presenter Holly Willoughby said: “Welcome to the greatest show on ice. We are back.”

Her co-host Phillip Schofield added: “It’s just nice to get dressed up.”

A number of contestants suffered injuries in the run-up to the launch of the ITV programme in addition to van Outen.

Bell’s partner Yebin Mok was injured during training when her leg was badly cut by a skate blade.

He will instead be performing in week two with Karina Manta while Mok continues to recover.

Vardy’s professional skate partner Andy Buchanan was also injured during training when his face was sliced by one of her blades.

A cut was visible on his face when he performed on Sunday night.

Lady Leshurr had to take time off training after she injured her knee while preparing for Sunday’s show.

Dancing On Ice airs at 6pm on Sundays on ITV.