With only a couple of weeks to go before the new Dancing On Ice starts, it’s fair to say that we’re chomping at the bit.
But if we’re on the edge of our seats waiting for the revamped ITV series to begin, imagine what Phillip Schofield has been going through.
The presenter, 55, revealed yesterday that he’s known about the skating show’s big comeback for the past TWO YEARS.
Phillip, who’ll be hosting the programme alongside his This Morning colleague Holly Willoughby, joined other cast members at the official launch at London’s Natural History Museum.
And he told the assembled throng: “I can’t wait – we’ve been talking about this for years. We found out about this a long time ago.
“We were talking about bringing it back a year after it came off. Then another year went by.
“[But] I think it’s safe to say from two years ago it was definitely going to come back.”
It’s previously been revealed that there will be some big changes in the show – which is making a return after a four-year absence.
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Skating legends Torvill and Dean will go from being coaches to judges, the professional skaters will now choreograph routines for their celebrity partners, and Diversity star Ashley Banjo will also be joining the judging panel.
And Schofield reckons the tweaks will make the programme better than ever.
He said: “The changes that we’ve made, I think, are essential to giving it a reboot. It’s fundamentally different to what it was before, and it’s all the things I’ve wanted it to be.
“Where I think we’ve made mistakes in the past – and this was one of the things that I was discussing two years ago – was we had a number of parents who were unhappy that it finished so late with the skate-off.
“You’d have the main show, then we’d come on later, which meant if there were young kids, they could watch the beginning of the show but not what happened at the end.”
Before it went off air in 2014, Dancing On Ice was co-hosted by Schofield and Christine Lampard.
And the silver-haired This Morning presenter revealed how Christine reacted to the news that Holly Willoughby – who fronted the show from 2006 to 2011 – would be returning to the role for the reboot.
He said at the launch: “Christine is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met in my life.
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“Nobody, nobody in television is more thoughtful than Christine – which is why, when it was announced that Holly was coming back to do the show, the first person that got in touch was Christine.
“She texted saying: ‘Oh my gosh, this is so exciting – please tell me I can come and watch?'”