Dancing On Ice bosses are said to be considering sacking one of their five judges to make more time for the others to be heard.

A show source commented: “There are some great names on the panel but sometimes we don’t get enough out of them. In the early stages of the competition there are so many dancers you only have a few minutes for them to comment.

“Often we only have time for one judge so you have four people who are sitting there twiddling their thumbs.”

The Dancing On Ice panel currently comprises Jason Gardiner, Ruthie Henshall, Robin Cousins, Nicky Slater and Karen Barber. I would recommend that Karen is dropped from next years lineup. She’s a nice woman and obviously a good coach but often her critique is coloured by the fact that she knows the skaters personally and finds it hard to be honest with them.