Dancing On Ice fans have criticised Phillip Schofield after last night’s episode (February 5).
They have accused the 60-year-old of displaying ‘childish’ behaviour over his treatment of contestant Joey Essex.
Last night’s installment proved to be an interesting watch.
Love Island 2022 winner Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu became the third celeb to be axed from the wintery competition and appeared pensive over her elimination.
Phillip Schofield on Dancing On Ice
Still, for many viewers, the real drama came when hosts Phillip and Holly Willoughby spoke to Joey Essex. The Only Way Is Essex star is partnered with pro dancer Vanessa Bauer.
Phillip teased Joey over his alleged relationship with Vanessa and fans weren’t exactly left feeling impressed.
Joey, 32, and Vanessa, 26, completed a routine and achieved the highest score of the 2023 series yet. They performed the Paso Doble, a fast-paced Spanish dance.
As the pair awaited to hear their scores, Phillip threw a light-hearted jab at them.
Joey said he’s “fallen in love with ice skating”. Phillip then remarked: “With ice skating?” The audience then erupted into a fit of cheers and laughter.
Joey grinned, saying: “I’ve fallen in love with Paso.”
Phillip didn’t stop there. “Anything else?”
“Erm, no,” Joey replied. “Just the ice.”
The Joey and Vanessa thing is a bit childish.
It seemed that Phillip was alluding to the alleged relationship between Joey and Vanessa. A backstage source on the show has even told The Sun they saw the couple kissing.
His cheeky comments, however, didn’t go down well with Dancing On Ice viewers as they accused him of acting in an infantile fashion.
Fans call out Phillip
Taking to apps like Twitter, viewers expressed how annoyed they were with the This Morning presenter.
“Do we really need Phil and Holly’s childish remarks to Joey every week?” one aggravated fan commented.
Another wrote: “The Joey and Vanessa thing is a bit childish. Each to their own but Holly and Phil and others encouraging it is cringe. You’re not in [bleep] year seven.”
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“I wish Phil stopped digging to get Joey to announce his relationship with Vanessa,” a third user said. “If they don’t want to talk about it, leave it.”
And a fourth fan remarked: “Why are they trying to push this showmance between Joey and Vanessa? So awkward.”
Dancing On Ice continues this Sunday (February 12) from 6:25pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
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