Nile Wilson has won Dancing On Ice 2023 after a close fought final.
Three celebrities and their professional skating partners performed this evening in a bid to be crowned this year's champion of the Ice in a tense fought final. All the skating stars had to perform multiple routines, before it was announced who came out on top.
Judges - Jayne Torvill, Christopher Dean, Oti Mabuse and Ashley Banjo - were on hand to give their expert verdicts tonight, but the winner was ultimately down to the general public as they chose between The Vivienne, Nile Wilson and Joey Essex.
Joey Essex was partnered with Vanessa Bauer, whilst Nile Wilson skated with Olivia Smart and The Vivienne skated alongside Colin Grafton. Speaking ahead of the final, each of the finalists gave their opinion on whether they could win.
" I feel like I’ve always been perceived as this person who doesn’t know much and is not intelligent but on the flip side, I’ve got personality and other strengths," Joey explained, " With Dancing on Ice that’s what I wanted to show, that I am skilful.
"I’ve learned a lot and in the past few years I’ve turned into a man so it’s nice to show who I am. I’m not just silly 24/7. I’m not going to say I’m not stupid, because sometimes I can be a little bit stupid."
The Vivienne never thought she'd make it to the top three, but shared her excitement at being able to prove people wrong.
"If you’d have told me I’d end up in the top three alongside an Olympic gymnast I’d have been mind-blown. It’s a huge achievement, I think people thought me and Joey would be out first! They thought we wouldn’t be able to do one lift but we’ve done about nine different lifts and we might have a few extra things in our back pocket. It’s nice to prove people wrong," she said.
Ahead of the final, Nile was clear favourite to win, but that was something he wasn't keen to dwell on.
"I’m just focusing on the process not the results, that’s what I learned as an athlete. If we go out there and skate the best we can, the results will take care of themselves. The semi final was an incredible moment to get the four tens," he said.
"I love skating, I’ve learned as much as I possibly can."
