Dancing on Ice icon Matt Evers has broken his silence on the “very sad end” of his other career after losing after his 10-year long job.
The professional ice skater, who has appeared on the ITV show since it began back in 2006, took to social media to bid farewell to the Ideal World shopping channel, after it fell into administration earlier this month.
The 47-year-old had hosted on the channel for the last 10 years and he thanked Ideal World bosses for taking a chance on him and giving him an opportunity to kickstart a career in presenting.
“A very sad goodbye… to all my producers, directors, fellow presenters, guests, models, audio, stage hands, stage managers, buyers and production staff thank you for almost 10 years of pure joy,” Matt wrote.
He went on to thank “our viewers and loyal customers”, and said it was an exhausting job but it was “bliss”.
“To those who hired me 10 years ago as a guest, to this past year and believing in me to present my own shows I could not have done it without each and everyone of you,” he continued.
“3 hours of live, non scripted, no ad break off the cuff television is definitely exciting. Things can be scary when something ends but rest assured when one door closes another one opens,” Matt added.
The ice skater ended his emotional post by calling the closure of Ideal World “a very sad end to a beautiful era of television.”
His followers were quick to console him in the comments, with one writing: “On to the next precious chapter.”
“This is such a sad situation for you and all your colleagues that you have worked with, loved watching you on it and I’ve purchased,” another added.
Earlier this month, it was announced that the majority of staff at Ideal World had been made redundant, and administrators had said trading was “not strong enough” for the shopping channel to continue.
Matt has been a firm favourite with Dancing on Ice viewers since it began in 2006, and was crowned champion just two years later alongside celebrity partner Suzanna Shaw.
He finished second in 2012 with former Hollyoaks star Jorgie Porter, and was partnered with EastEnders icon Patsy Palmer for this year’s series, but they were voted off after four weeks.
