Dancing On Ice commentator star Sam Matterface has left the ITV show after seven years, ED! can reveal.
The new series – fronted by Holly Willoughby and Stephen Mulhern – kicked off last night (January 12).
And viewers were quick to notice a change…
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Dancing On Ice commentator Sam Matterface exits show
One viewer immediately spotted Sam had been replaced on Dancing On Ice.
“Who’s the new commentator?” they asked, before the change was addressed by host Holly.
After the first couple skated last night – Sam Aston and new pro skater Molly Lanaghan – Holly gave Alex a low-key welcome and said: “Thank you very much to our commentator, Alex Crook.”
However, she didn’t reveal where regular commentator Sam – who’d been on the show for seven series – had gone…
Sam breaks silence
Posting on his own social media ahead of the show, Sam appeared to hand over the Dancing On Ice baton to pal Alex. He shared a picture of himself – which appears to have been taken over Christmas – gifting Alex an ice skate bauble.
Captioning the post, he said: “Good luck,” while tagging Alex in the upload.
Now, a source has exclusively told ED! that Sam felt it was time to move on after seven years on the show.
He misses everyone, and he did sit down and watch it last night. He absolutely loved the team and misses them all.
They told us that, as ITV’s lead football commentator, Sam has decided to concentrate on the beautiful game. He hosts ITV’s FA Cup coverage, commentates on ITV’s live EFL games and has his own successful show on TalkSport, so he’s definitely booked and busy!
“After seven years, Sam sadly decided it was time to pass his commentating duties over to Alex Crook,” the source told us.
“He misses everyone, and he did sit down and watch it last night. He absolutely loved the team and misses them all.”
Alex Crook takes over
New Dancing On Ice commentator Alex has actually appeared on the show before. He’s covered for Sam previously when Sam’s footballing commitments meant that he had to miss the occasional week on the ice.
Viewers were quick to deliver their verdict on the changes to the show.
One commented on the shake-up at the start of the show and said: “Dancing On Ice is back with updates to the title card, theme music and voiceover!”
Viewers then commented on the voice that welcomed viewers to the new series, and it seems they recognised him from somewhere.
One said: “OMG The Cube is the new voiceover guy!” Meanwhile, a second declared: “OBSESSED with the voice of The Cube being this year’s voiceover.”
ED! has contacted ITV for comment.
Read more: Dancing On Ice viewers slam show’s tribute to The Vivienne
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