Dancing on Ice star Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu was left ‘embarrassed’ after being ‘more focused on the cameras, rather than the performance’, a body language expert commenting on the show has said.
The celebrity ice skating competition returned for another year on Sunday evening with a star-studded launch on ITV.
Yet, it was a tough start to the series for Love Island reigning champ Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu, who landed in the bottom two after she received the least amount of public votes.
Ekin-Su appeared noticeably gobsmacked at the result, which put her at risk of going home in the first week, and quickly turned to talk with her dance partner Brendyn Hatfield.
Body language expert Darren Stanton has now voiced why he believes Ekin-Su could have landed in the danger zone, as she appeared ‘angry’ over the result.
Speaking on behalf of Betfair, Darren suggested that Ekin-Su and Brendyn were not a ‘great’ pairing on the programme.
He said: “Their energy with each other seems to be disjointed and Ekin-Su appears more focused on looking at the cameras, then focusing on the routine.
“They went on to receive some quite low scores and feedback, which indicates to me that the pair won’t last very long in the competition.
“While receiving feedback, Ekin-Su displayed a fake smile before going on to show a horseshoe smile, which is an upside down smile.
“This expression is genuinely used when someone is masking an emotion of embarrassment. I think she thought she would have gained better feedback for the routine.”
Darren added that when Ekin-Su was named as one of the two in the dreaded skate-off on Sunday night, the Love Island star’s face displayed an expression of ‘anger and sadness’.
He said: “She clearly wanted to receive the best scores and feedback from the judges. Ekin-Su needs to prioritise the performance if she wants to stay on the show.”
Ekin-Su’s boyfriend Davide Sanclimenti was watching on among the audience at the ice rink studio and also appeared equally unhappy at the voting result.
The Italian star joined Good Morning Britain on Monday morning to lend his support to Ekin-Su after she narrowly avoided an early exit from the ITV show.
He said: “The fact that now she’s in the skate-off, naturally she’s a bit sad. Last night we had a long talk, but I know that she knows she’s a strong woman and she’s very determined.
“She knows what she wants and I think this will now push her to be better and better week by week.”
Ed noted Ekin-Su would now be the underdog of the competition, as he added: “She’s got to fight to win and Brits love an underdog.”
