Jason Gardiner has admitted he’s glad to see Gemma Collins leaving Dancing On Ice.
It was TOWIE’s Gemma Collins who was eliminated from Dancing On Ice 2019 after the skate off against cricketer Ryan Sidebottom.
In the skate off, judges Jayne Torvill, Christopher Dean, Jason Gardiner and Ashley Banjo decided who to save after the couples skated again.
Jason, Ashley and Jayne all saved Ryan, leaving Gemma to go home. Although his casting vote was not needed, head judge Chris also saved Ryan.
Speaking about the latest episode on ITV’s Lorraine on Monday, Jason declared his ‘relief’ at Gemma going home.
He told the programme: “”I’m relieved for the other contestants in the show who are really brilliant and the focus can be on their
“I regret [that is all been about Gemma and him]. All the other contestants have been blooming and I’m glad they can have their time to shine now.”
Jason went on to defend his ‘harsh’ judging style, saying: “I am honoured that I can [be a harsh judge] they are in a bubble and I’m outside the bubble.
“I come in from the outside, I’m rink side, I get it, they do train hard. Nothing surprises me anymore. I know how to make skaters better.”
And Jason praised what he considered to be an ‘open competition’.
“We can’t call it, it’s so close. James is a foregone conclusion, but no he isn’t, we have got Wes, he has great chemistry and relationship with Vanesssa,” he said.
Meanwhile, Gemma herself has hit out at Jason and accused him of ‘body shaming’ her during the series.
Appearing on ITV’s This Morning and Loose Women yesterday, Gemma reacted to her exit and her clashes with Jason throughout the series.
“He is there to do a job after all. It’s just when he body shamed me, the first form of defense is attack,” Gemma said of her rows with the Dancing On Ice judge. “He body shamed me so I went on the defensive. I would have loved to have been spun around for a count of eight, but I couldn’t.
“When he said I wouldn’t be able to be lifted – yeah, we know that Jason, no need to say it.”
Dancing On Ice 2019 continues Sunday nights at 6PM on ITV.
