Dancing On Ice judge Ashley Banjo has denied contestant Brendan Cole has an advantage over the other contestants on the ITV series, because he is a professionally trained dancer.
The former Strictly Come Dancing pro stormed the leaderboard on Sunday night, as he made his ice debut.
Show fans took to social media to slam Brendan's 'advantage' over the other contestants after his first performance, believing his skills were down to his dancing background.
Judge Ashley, a member of dance group Diversity, has now spoken out about the claims, and has defended Brendan taking part.
He said, speaking as a professional dancer, it would not help him on the ice with this being a whole other skill.
Speaking to Richard Madeley and Susanna Reid on Good Morning Britain on Monday, he confessed he wouldn't be able to do it as well as Brendan did.
He said: "He was flying over that ice. A lot of people say, 'Oh he's a dancer, he's a pro'.
"Listen, I'm a dancer, I'm a pro and there is no way I would be able to come out and get off that panel and do what Brendan did that well. The way he translates his skills is amazing."
It follows Dancing On Ice viewers taking to Twitter on Sunday night with many claiming the dancer had an advantage that other contestants did not have.
One viewer wrote: "Professional dancers should not be allowed to partake in other shows. They have a clear advantage #dancingonice."
"Totally unfair advantage...All Brendan needs to do is learn how to skate," a second added, as a third penned: "I hate when they say 'they might be a professional dancer, but that doesn’t help, when you’re on the ice', yes it does help, because Brendan just scored an 8 on show one, with no mention of bad lines and everyone else will get a bad lines comment."
Brendan has addressed comments about it being "unfair" for him to take part, suggesting it did not aid him like some viewers believed.
He said: "There have been quite a few people who have said ‘that’s not fair - he’s a dancer’.
"There are a few dancers in the show, which is great, but it’s where you start and where you finish. If you just plateau it’s not going to be good viewing for anybody, so I’m hoping to improve."
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays at 6am on ITV.
