Stef Reid is the latest celebrity to be booted from Dancing On Ice, after a week in which three participants received flawless judges’ ratings.
After landing in the dance off alongside Kye Whyte and Tippy Packard, the Paralympic athlete, 37, and her skating partner Andy Buchanan were sent home.
After the public vote, both stars were in the bottom two, and judges Jayne Torvill, Christopher Dean, Ashley Banjo, and Oti Mabuse chose to send Reid home, citing BMX racer Whyte’s superior performance.
“I’ve loved every moment,” Stef added, “and it’s not something I ever thought I’d be able to do.”
“I can’t thank you enough, you’ve made it,” she said to Andy.
Kye skated a high-energy routine to Years & Years’ Sanctify, while Stef gave an emotive performance to Michael Bolton’s romance classic How Am I Supposed To Live Without You in the skate-off.
Fans of Dancing on Ice were split on the outcome and rushed to Twitter to express their feelings.
“Doesn’t seem fair that Kye can perfect a routine about 6 times and Stef goes on the first time she performs her skate off routine #dancingonice,” one Twitter user said.
“Think the judges made the wrong decision there,” another commented.
“Kai survives his 50th dance off of the season #doi #dancingonice,” one joked.
“These judges are definitely not watching what I’m watching #DancingOnIce,” another individual tweeted.
“Brilliant show, exceptional performances, but the wrong couple went,” one Twitter user said.
Others, however, thought it was the appropriate choice since Kye and Tippy performed better in the skate-off.
“I thought [Stef] was better overall than Kye,” one commented, “but tonight I probably thought Kye skated a little better.”
“Kye has been in like 50 skate offs lol,” one user said, “but in my opinion, he was much better than Stef tonight in that skate off.”
Both competitors were complimented by co-hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield, who felt that the level of performances this year had reached an all-time high.
All of the judges commended the duo, with Jayne Torvill remarking that they would have likely made it to the final in earlier seasons.
Reid had made an impression on the judges and fans throughout the competition.
Despite having a prosthetic limb, she was dubbed a “inspiration” early in the series when she pulled off the risky headbanger maneuver.
