Dancing On Ice’s Jason Gardiner defends his ‘brutal’ judging

Dancing On Ice judge Jason Gardiner has defended his judging style amid criticism.

Appearing on Good Morning Britain in the week, Jason’s feedback to the celebs on the show was compared to bullying.

Host Kate Garraway said “Why are you so direct? Let’s call it that if you don’t like the word cruel. One of the interesting things about you is that you’ve had tough times personally yourself; in school you were bullied, you had a lot of problems coming to terms with your sexuality and how people treated you over that.

“So you know what it’s like to be picked on. How do you look at those comments and think that’s different?”

However Jason responded: “That’s very controversial because actually what you’re saying is that I am picking on people and that you’re likening what I do to bullying.”

He explained: “I’m there to give a critique based on my expertise and I have 10 seconds to make a point. Now, if I were to sit there and spout technical jargon, it’s lost on the contestant but it’s also lost on the home viewer.

“These are people that are novices. They have no performance experience whatsoever. I have to make a point and I have to get it into their heads. And do you know what? Whether you agree with what I do, it gets results – you know, they do improve.

“I think I am very balanced and very fair. I’m impartial.”

Before the new series kicked off, Jason vowed to always tell the truth.

“It’s got to the point where people are too scared saying the truth,” Jason said. “We are now being forced into censorship at a time when we have the ability to really express ourselves.”

The Dancing on Ice final airs Sunday night from 7PM on ITV.