Ekin-Su Culculoglu has sent a message after she survived the first skat-off of Dancing on Ice 2023. The Love Island winner discovered she'd be performing again in a bid to keep her place in the competition after her debut performance last weekend.
Only six of the eleven celebrities signed up for the ITV skating show's latest series performed during the opening weekend with the remaining five joining their professional skating partners on the ice on Sunday night (January 22). RuPaul’s Drag Race star The Vivienne, kicked off week two and made history by becoming the first drag queen to compete on Dancing on Ice.
The 30-year-old channelled their diva icon as they and their dance partner Colin Grafton delivered an energetic performance to Strong Enough by Cher. However, it was former Hollyoaks star Carley Stenson who topped the leaderboard during the episode with a score of 32 alongside her partner Mark Hanretty.
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Meanwhile, comedian Darren Harriott gave an energetic routine to Fireball by Pitbull with his skating partner Tippy Packard, John Fashanu paid tribute to his sporting background as he performed to Eat My Goal by Collapsed Lung alongside his professional partner Alexandra Schauman and Coronation Street’s Mollie Gallagher gave an elegant performance to Angel Eyes by Abba as she took to the ice for the first time with her skating partner, and her soap co-star's husband, Sylvain Longchambon.
And despite not performing this week, Ekin-Su had to lace up her skates and perform in the dreaded skate-off against former footballer John. The 60-year-old and his professional partner Alexandra danced again, this time to Norman Greenbaum’s Spirit In The Sky while Ekin-Su, 28, and her partner Brendyn Hatfield skated to No Tears Left To Cry by Ariana Grande.
After the couples went head to head, the judges voted unanimously to save Ekin-Su meaning John became the first celebrity to exit the competition. Taking to Instagram after the show finished, Ekin-Su, who was hit with complaints following her debut due to her 'sexy' performances and outfit, posted a picture of her and Brendyn on the ice and shared a message to her supporters.
She said: "We made it through! Thank you so much for your support this week, thanks to the judges and thank you @brendynhatfield loved every second of that performance…roll on musicals week."
But as she made it through to another week in the competition, fans were distracted as they spotted her boyfriend Davide Sanclimenti back to cheer her on alongside her brother. @minimarwood_ tweeted: "Davide’s lil face when they saved Ekin. They are the CUTEST #DancingOnIce."
@lvo_xx said: "Davide is so happy and proud of Ekin-Su and my heart is BURSTING #DancingOnIce #DOI." @BradleyXO_ added: "Davide is so cute #DancingOnIce." However, some viewers felt that the results were unfair due to the time Ekin had to prepare for the skate-off.
@cookiejoe9 tweeted: "SO unfair she's had a full week to concentrate on that one skate John had to learn 2 skates in a week #dancingonice." @JackiPearce posted: "Got nothing against Ekin-Su but wouldn’t she have had an advantage over any of this weeks skate off given she had an extra week to practice her routine?#dancingonice."
@iambri_97 echoed: "The first dance off format on this is so poor because Ekin-Su has had a solid week to come to terms with it, to practice her routine without having a main show skate tonight, meanwhile John Fashanu has had about 4 minutes, and skated tonight. Ridiculous format #DancingOnIce."
But @shrimpsy291 argued: "Don’t get everyone saying that last weeks dancers had extra weekto practice dance off routine? No as this week’s dancers had extra week to dance their routine for tonight ? So all equal #dancingonice."
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