Holly Willoughby demands Oti Mabuse ‘clears this up’ amid ‘mean’ ITV Dancing on Ice moment
Dancing On Ice host Holly Willoughby demanded judge and former BBC Strictly Oti Mabuse explain herself during a tense moment on the ITV show.
It came as Mabuse scored comedian Josh Jones a measly four out of 10 following his debut routine on the ice – the lowest of all the judging panel. Like the viewers at home who deemed her “mean,” Willoughby asked the judge to “clear this up”.
Following his routine to Don’t Feel Like Dancin’ by the Scissor Sisters alongside professional Tippy Packard Jones was left taken aback by one of the scores.
Judges Mabuse, Ashley Banjo, Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean shared their feedback following the performance, with Banjo, Torvill and Dean each giving a score of 5.5.
Meanwhile, Mabuse prompted jeers from the audience when she held up a 4.
Immediately afterwards, Willoughby seemed to jump to Jones’ defence, stating: “Right first of all Oti, shall we come to you and clear this up? Everyone else agreed apart from you!”
“Yeah let’s clear it up,” the choreographer replied, continuing: “Listen, good stuff – we will start with the good things!
“It was fun we enjoyed ourselves watching you. But if we’re being real, there were bits where you were out of time with Tippy…
“Movements where I felt like you were unstable and you were about to fall over, moments where I felt like you were going to fall on top of her and a lot of it, for me, didn’t come together tonight.”
She concluded: “But you do have a big personality so keep working on the skating and leave the personality where it is.”
It didn’t take long for fans on social media to point out Mabuse had been harsh in her judging, with one writing on X: “Oti is mean this season #lowscores #dancingonice.”
“How can Oti give Josh the same as Steve? There was no comparison #dancingonice,” a second complained.
A third shared: “Oti with 4 was taking the p*** to be honest.. #DancingOnIce.”
“Oti’s scoring of Josh was just ridiculous. sure he’s not the best, but he’s better than a 4.0 #dancingonice,” another agreed.
“Oti, what you talking about #dancingonice “he ‘nearly’ fell! Well, he didn’t fall, what a mean score and not a nice comment,” someone else added.
“Oti….very harsh! At least he did a bit of skating on his own! #dancingonice,” another noted.
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Some disagreed with the criticisms though and applauded the dancer’s judging, with one posting: “I still think Oti Mabuse and Ashley Banjo are the best judges on the panel. They’re so great at giving honest critique whilst also making sure to give them odd moments of praise. #DancingOnIce.” (sic)
Elsewhere in the episode, fans accused the judges of “overmarking” some of the contestants.
It came after EastEnders star Charlie Brooks opened the show, and received a respectable score of 26 from the panel.
Many fans took to social media to slam the scoring, with one writing on X: “Overmarked #dancingonice,” a second added, with a third echoing: “Here we go, judges over marking again #dancingonice.” (sic)