Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Sophie Goodall

Dancing On Ice viewers angrily call show a 'fix' following Nile Wilson blunder

Fans of Dancing On Ice have accused the judges of ‘undermarking’ contestant Nile Wilson, with viewers adamant that the Olympian should have scored “9.5s or 10s” for his routine.

It was during this week’s live show, in which Nile and his professional partner Olivia Smart performed a Mission Impossible-themed dance, in which he managed to tick the judge’s criteria of executing a 2ft high jump.

However, viewers were left confused when the scores took longer to come through than usual, with a technical glitch meaning the marks didn’t appear on the screen.

When they were finally announced, fans were left unhappy with the 35 points that were awarded to the couple.

The pair executed the judge's brief including a 2ft high jump (Matt Frost/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

Nile, a firm favourite in the contest, has been a high scorer throughout the series, so viewers were left baffled with the judges’ decision, assuming that the technical glitch may have been down to confusion over the low score.

One person took to social media, writing: "The weird scores must explain the technical issues with the cameras. They were all clearly in shock in the gallery and trying to check those scores weren't supposed to be 9.5s or 10."

Fans argued that Nile had been the best contestant on the night (Matt Frost/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

A second claimed: "This has got to be rigged!! Nile was skating independently for most of it! He has clearly been the best tonight, what a fix."

"What does Nile have to do to get the score he deserve? Such biased judging…Some get extra points for trying," typed a third.

"Nile and Olivia were brilliant, they were undermarked again tonight," a fourth chimed.

Nile Wilson and skating partner Olivia Smart received a score of 35 (Matt Frost/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

Luckily, following the audience vote, Nile and Olivia managed to secure their place on the competition for another week.

Comedian Darren Harriott and his partner Tippy Packard, and The Wanted's Siva Kaneswaran and his partner Klabera Komini, both ended up in the bottom two.

After the pair competed in the skate-off, it was Darren who was sent home.

The audience vote kept Nile and Olivia in the competition (Matt Frost/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

He said: “I lasted a lot longer than I expected. I thought I'd be out before the show started.

"Honestly, thank you, thank you to everyone. I've never skated before Everyone's been so nice, all the pros and all the celebs.

"I've never met anybody like Tippy... Her enthusiasm!"

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.