It wouldn’t be the new year without ITV’s Dancing On Ice, and this January Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean are back to train a team of well known faces in the expert art of Dancing on Ice, preparing each skater for a spectacular live ice skating championship.

What Is Dancing On Ice?

Dancing On Ice is a reality type TV show, which attempts to turn 12 celebrities into professional ice skaters in a matter of months. Olympic skaters Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean help train the celebrities each day, and also perform a routine on each weekend show.

The show was a surprise hit for ITV when it first hit British TV screens in 2006 and has went on to air in eight countries since.

How Does It All Work?
Simply put, the celebrities perform an ice skating routine each week along with their professional ice skating partner. They are given a score ranging between 0 and 6 by each of the judges, these scores are then transferred onto a leaders board. The score given by the judges will count as 50% of the final nightly score. The public are also given the chance to vote, via phone for their favourite couple, the result of this vote makes up the remainder of each pairs score. The two couples with the lowest scores are made to perform again as part of a “Skate Off” and the couple that win the majority of the judges vote will get to return the following week.

The Dancing On Ice Presenters Are…..

The weekly ITV1 show is presented by the devilishly handsome Philip Schofield and the gorgeous Holly Willoughby. The judges (or the Ice Panel) consist of Jason Gardiner, Nicky Slater and Robin Cousins, the fourth judge has changed from series to series. In 2008 West End star Ruthie Henshall will be joining the panel.

Who Are This Year’s Celebrities?
Signed up for this years show are:

• Natalie Pinkham (Sports presenter)
• Greg Rusedski (Tennis player)
• Suzanne Shaw (Singer/actress)
• Michael Underwood (TV presenter)
• Tim Vincent (Actor/TV presenter, ex-Emmerdale star, former Blue Peter presenter)
• Steve Backley (Javelin star)
• Gareth Gates (Singer and Pop Idol runner up)
• Chris Fountain (Actor, Hollyoaks)
• Sarah Greene (TV presenter, former Blue Peter host)
• Aggie MacKenzie (TV presenter, How Clean is Your House?)
• Samantha Mumba (Singer)
• Linda Lusardi (Actress)

DANCING ON ICE: THE FACTS
• 325 canisters of fake tan are used per series
• 220 pairs of fake eyelashes are used for the girls.
• The Dancing On Ice rink has been purpose built at Elstree Studios,Hertfordshire.To produce the specially designed ice rink, an approximate 40,000 litres of water is used. This takes 48 hours to freeze to get the depth of ice right for the first show.
• In addition to the main studio rink,there has been a special training rink also built on site.The main studio rink measures 29m x 14m and seats 470 spectators. The training rink is 30.7m x 13m.There is 16,071
metres of aluminium cooling system under the two rinks to keep the ice frozen.
• The set is made of 10 tonnes of steel, 6000 screws hold it in place with eight miles of cables running through.
• The most famous daring move performed on Dancing on Ice is the head banger – The celebrity is held
by the ankles and lies flat out in the air.The skating partner spins them around whilst swinging them high
up in the air and low down near the ice – hence it is called a headbanger as the head is dangerously close
to ice (Bonnie Langford did this in the first series and Lisa Scott Lee in the second).
• The celebrities train on average 20 hours per week on the ice for each new routine.
• The Dancing On Ice team is made up of about 250 people including production, editorial and general
crew.There are two physiotherapists on duty, two paramedics and a team of four people look after the
ice itself.
• A special paint is used to paint the ice which comes from Canada and is used to paint all of the hockey
rinks in Northern America. Painting takes place once there are about 4cm of ice.A spray boom with a
very fine nozzle is used to spray the ice white.The paint has a secret formula.
• The coolant running through the ice pipes is basic glycol (anti-freeze) mixed with water.This is mixed so
that it will not freeze until -30 degrees C. Over 10km of pipework runs under each rink.

When Can We Watch Dancing On Ice?

The show has traditonally aired on Saturday nights, however series three kicks off on Sunday 13 January 2008 5:50pm – 7:50pm on ITV1 and will continue to be broadcast on Sunday each week.