Dancing On Ice judge Oti Mabuse had to explain herself on camera after giving Josh Jones the lowest score of the night last night (January 19).
The I’m A Celebrity star is judging the latest series of the ITV programme alongside Ashley Banjo, Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean.
And, when comedian Josh ended up in the bottom two alongside eliminated celebrity Chelsee Healey, viewers were quick to blame Oti.
Oti Mabuse in her Mean Girls era on Dancing On Ice 2025
Josh and his skating partner Tippy Packard took to the chilly floor to perform Don’t Feel Like Dancin’ by the Scissors Sisters.
The judges seemed less than impressed at the end of their performance, which prompted the host Holly Willoughby to demand an explanation.
While Ashley gave them a 5.5, Oti gave them a 4, followed by a score of 5.5 from both Jayne and Chris.
As a result, Holly asked Oti to reveal why she’d given such low scores, asking her to “clear it up”.
Oti replied: “Let’s start with the good things – we had fun, we enjoyed ourselves watching you. But if we’re being real, there were bits where you were out of time with Tippy, moments where I felt you were unstable and you were about to fall over, moments where I felt like you were going to fall on top of her and a lot of it, for me, didn’t come together tonight.”
However, she concluded her remarks by complimenting the duo’s “big personality”. Meanwhile, Ashley agreed with Oti’s feedback and praised Josh for being a “great performer”.
Viewers brand the judge ‘mean’
Many Dancing On Ice viewers have called out Oti for being “rude” and “harsh” to Josh. Some even challenged her to get on the ice rink to realise how difficult it is to perform, before being extremely critical of the contestants.
One enraged viewer said: “The day I see Banjo and Mabuse on the ice is the day I take their critique seriously.”
Another added: “Oti, what you talking about #dancingonice ‘he nearly fell!’ Well, he didn’t fall, what a mean score and not a nice comment.”
A third one said: “Oti….very harsh! At least he did a bit of skating on his own!”
Supporting Josh, another viewer said: “Josh did really well. What an improvement. Oti gave a 4!? What does she know? She needs to stick to what she knows. She can’t even justify her mark. I have no idea why she is on this judging panel.”
“Oti is mean this season,” declared another.
Fans support Oti
However, some viewers opined that Oti’s judgment of Josh’s performance was only fair and reasonable.
One wrote: “Yeah a mixed bag from Josh, great performance value and it did make me laugh but his skating was very slow and he seemed so unsure of himself, Oti‘s also right that he was really out of time.”
Adding to the above comment, another said: “Obsessed with Oti being the new Jason Gardiner and scoring correctly for Josh.”
Read more: Dancing on Ice viewers criticise Holly Willoughby’s outfit: ‘Not impressed’
So, what did you think of Josh’s performance? Let us know by leaving a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix.