Year in Review: the controversial edition of Dancing on Ice 2022

Remember this from 2022? Regan Gascoigne & Karina Manta won Dancing on Ice. They competed in the final against Kimberly Wyatt & Mark Hanretty, and Brendan Cole & Vanessa Bauer.

Photo: ITV Studios

There was a lot of drama surrounding this year's 'Dancing on Ice', with Love Island's Liberty Poole being voted off over Bez and fans suggesting it was unfair that Brendan Cole was a professional dancer.

Photo: ITV Studios

Fans seemed unhappy that the judges 'over-marked'. Twitter users spoke out about the judges being too generous. One even said that a return of 'Mr Nasty' Jason Gardiner would have been welcome.

Photo: ITV Studios

Audiences highlighted that Regan Gascoigne seemed to be a firm judges' favourite during the season. There are no doubts about his skating ability, but many were outraged the dancer received such high marks despite his slips. He almost fell over three times in one of his performances.

Photo: ITV Studios

Let's take a look back at all the contestants, along with some surprising facts that, perhaps, you didn’t know.

Photo: ITV Studios

Former Pussycat Doll, this contestant has plenty of experience performing. She is part of a dance duo and really showed her expertise during Sky 1’s ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ as a judge on the show.

In 2015, Kimberly won Celebrity Masterchef and is an ultimate domestic goddess, presumably thanks to her three children at home. She also shares weaning tips with new mums and loves knitting.

From Strictly to DOI, Brendan has started the show with a mixed review from the fans. Many have said his training and background as a professional dancer on Strictly means he is at an unfair advantage. But when asked if he had ever taken to the ice before, he replied ‘I’ve had one go.’

He was axed from Strictly Come Dancing after 15 years being a professional on the show. Speaking to Lorraine, he said that the sacking was due to an 'editorial decision' by the Beeb.

The former S Club 7 member won’t be performing in the second week of the show due to a wrist injury. She said it herself before the show started, “It’s one of those things, until you do it you don’t know what’s going to happen,” she told Holly and Phillip on ‘This Morning.’ What happened? She was voted off on week 4.

The beauty beat Jennifer Lopez, Anna Kournikova, Jessica Alba, Halle Berry, and others to become FHM’s sexiest woman of all time in 2014.

Happy Monday’s Bez also won’t be performing on week two of the show due to testing positive for Covid-19. The Bolton-born rocker (whose real name is Mark Berry) thrilled the fans in the first episode with his watermelon helmet and maracas, but left the judges wanting more - receiving the lowest score of the week.

Although he never actually sings in any of the Happy Mondays songs, and he isn’t officially even a member of the band, he is credited on the recordings.

Scottish bass player, Connor Ball, is one quarter of The Vamps, the group that supported McFly on Tour in 2013 and has been growing an impressive fan base ever since. Ball does not have much experience on the ice - but does have an impressive 820k followers on Instagram.

The last member to join the band has a serious fear of moths.

Entertainment editor for Lorraine and presenter for This Morning’s Sofa Tour is gutted to be in the bottom two after the first skate. Does the curse of last year’s Dancing on Ice worry the presenter? Although she has described the experience as ‘scary’, she also said “You’ve got to say yes to things that excite you.” The public were on the edge of their seats, until week 3 when she got the boot.

The entrepreneur has a talk show, Wonder Woman TV which is run by her own production company called Carpe Diem Media Productions.

Another dancer to have signed up for the show. Although he is probably more famous to the public as being footballer Paul Gascoigne’s son. Dad obviously never let him get his skates on as a child, with Regan saying, “I’ve always wanted to do it. Always! Ever since I was a kid!"

He has performed in The Nutcracker with the English National Ballet.

Liberty Poole, famous for walking on the seventh season of ITV’s Love Island, seems up for the challenge. She is only 21 years old and took ice-skating up as a hobby, although she isn’t as nimble as previously thought and took a bad tumble in rehearsals, slamming onto her back. Her fall in week 5 saw her out of the competition.

She has a few bad habits including snoring and talking too much, according to Poole herself.

A big name in the Paralympics - Stef Reid for Great Britain has done the country proud already, gaining the Brits two bronze medals and a silver in the games. At 16 she lost her right foot in a boating accident but has never let that stop her love for sports - and here she is taking up a new one.

The sporting star almost gave up her dream of becoming an athlete, studying biochemistry at university to become a doctor - that was before she discovered track and field.

England rugby player, Ben Foden, is no stranger to competition. He now plays for New York in major league rugby, but has recently hinted about a return home. He was part of the brilliant group ‘Try Star’ in The X Factor: Celebrity in 2019. If you missed it, go watch it now!

Ben Foden married his current wife, Jackie Belanoff-Smith on the day of his divorce with ex wife, Saturdays singer, Una Healey (pictured). They had been dating for two weeks.

Another medalist for the show. Olympian BMX star, Kye White took home a silver at last year’s Tokyo summer Olympics. It wasn’t just any silver and was Britain’s first ever medal for BMX. His extreme sport background certainly put him in good stead. White said, “I think the thing I’m really confident about is I don’t really mind if I fall, I’m quite fearless.”

The Olympian is proud of staying away from the gang culture where he grew up. Sport took him away from that, together with his good pal, Reiss Nelson, the Arsenal football player.

Many were rooting for the 58 year old Coronation Street actress to do well. She said on Lorraine, “I’m not getting any younger, I’ve just got to take every opportunity I get so that when I’m old I can say you know what? I gave it a go.” She has played Sally Webster in the TV soap since 1986.

Daughter Pheoebe Dynevor is famous in her own right, playing Daphne Bridgerton on the Netflix smash hit series, Bridgerton.

Photo: Netflix