Dancing On Ice is reportedly facing an “uncertain future” on ITV.
The long running celebrity figure skating competition is currently in the midst of its 16th season, having first launched back in 2006 when Coronation Street star Gaynor Faye took home the trophy.
Now, it’s unclear what the future holds for the show, as ratings fall, and Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean have decided to retire from skating together.
The iconic duo, who have marked the 40th anniversary of their Winter Olympics win in Sarajevo by announcing they are hanging up their skates, are expected to remain on the show.
However, viewership has fallen with the January 28 episode pulling in just 2.9 million viewers, which is almost nine million fewer than the show’s heyday.
With many of the celebrity contestants getting six figure paydays for the programme, cost could be a huge factor, especially when you factor in the judges, the 12 professional skaters, and new presenting duo Holly Willoughby and Stephen Mulhern.
It’s been claimed that next year’s series could end up as a ‘one last hurrah’ for Torvill and Dean as they embark on their final UK tour.
An insider told the Mirror: ‘Dancing on Ice faces an uncertain future. The ratings are low for a big weekend show and without Torvill and Dean putting in their performances this could be the end of the road. It is an incredibly expensive show to make.
‘It only works if it gets a big audience.’
ITV has insisted Dancing On Ice is still ‘popular’ with viewers, while noting that no decision on the show’s future will be made until the current one ends.
A Dancing On Ice spokesperson told Metro.co.uk: ‘We never take a decision on future series until the end of the current one but Dancing on Ice remains a popular entertainment format for us having launched with 4.2million viewers.’
Despite the apparent uncertainty over the show’s future, Torvill and Dean have confirmed they have ‘no plans’ to step back from the show, which they judge alongside Oti Mabuse and Ashley Banjo.
In a joint statement shared to the PA news agency, they said: ‘Our 2025 “retirement” – which will follow our UK tour – will purely be from ice skating.
‘As we said in Sarajevo earlier this week, we will continue to work together away from the ice.
‘We have no plans to step back from Dancing On Ice and hope that the series continues for years to come.’