The Dancing On Ice 2025 final could be the ITV skating show’s final episode ever, a tabloid news report claims.
Anton Ferdinand, Michaela Strachan and Sam Aston are the three celebrities who have made it to the last stage of this year’s reality series. They will take to the rink with their respective pro partners on Sunday (March 9) as they bid to be crowned the 2025 series winners.
However, according to the Mirror, they may be the final famous faces to strap on their skating boots for ITV. And that’s because, the newspaper reckons, viewing figures are on the slide.
Dancing On Ice news – viewing figures drop
Channel insiders are cited as suggesting DOI – co-hosted by Stephen Mulhern and Holly Willoughby – is “likely to be dropped”.
Reportedly, the programme has endured its lowest-ever ratings, having pulled in 12 million viewers at the height of its popularity.
The Mirror claims DOI’s smallest live audience of all time came last year when 2.9 million watched one episode. That figure is said to represent a drop of 700,000 viewers on the 3.6 million who watched the series’ opening show just few weeks earlier.
It is also reported the 2025 launch was watched by 2.9 million for the launch, losing another half a million viewers by the fifth episode.
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‘Difficult to justify the cost’
An unnamed source is quoted as telling the newspaper that there aren’t enough eyes on the programme.
We need bums on seats.
They said: “There are very real fears this is the end of the road for Dancing On Ice. It’s had a good run for nearly 20 years and has a very loyal set of viewers who really love it. But the sad truth is there’s just not enough of them.
“We need bums on seats but the ratings have dropped to a point where it’s difficult to justify the cost.”
An ITV spokesperson told the newspaper: “The Dancing on Ice team is fully concentrating on the much-anticipated series finale this coming Sunday and therefore no decision has been made.”
They added the series had averaged 3 million viewers this series when counting catch up streaming on ITVX.
DOI future
It is believed contestants take home fees in the six-figure range as they train for months ahead of the series.
Additionally, the co-hosts, dozen pro skaters and judges Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, Oti Mabuse and Ashley Banjo also command big wages.
And ITV also maintains a purpose-built studio rink at Bovingdon Airfield in Hertfordshire for DOI, too.
ED! has approached ITV for comment on the Mirror’s story.
The Dancing On Ice 2025 final is on ITV1, Sunday March 9, at at 6.30pm.
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