Love Island winner and West End star Amber Davies has received the top score on Dancing On Ice with a “beautiful” performance as the show returned.
Canadian skater Simon Senecal lifted Davies up in the air into a box split as they performed to Hold On To Now by Kylie Minogue on Sunday’s launch show on ITV1.
The pair received a score of 25 points from the judges.
A knockout performance from Ricky and Robin 🥊 #DancingOnIce pic.twitter.com/ZJiyjk6Urw
— Dancing on Ice (@dancingonice) January 14, 2024
Judge Jayne Torvill said: “I loved all the beautiful positions, I think that is the best spiral I’ve seen on the ice in a long time.”
Bottom of the leaderboard so far was former world champion boxer Ricky Hatton, 45, who received 12.5 points from the judges.
Dressed in a boxing outfit, Hatton wore knee pads as he referenced boxing moves on the ice and did press-ups to Rocky movie theme tune Gonna Fly Now by Bill Conti with his skating partner Robin Johnstone.
Judge Ashley Banjo said it was “iconic” and said he can be proud of the audience’s reaction.
Ahead of his first skate, Hatton received a video message from boxer Tyson Fury saying “good luck”.
Meanwhile, Emmerdale actress Roxy Shahidi was lifted into a helicopter move and was praised by judge Oti Mabuse for a “beautiful sultry performance” to You Don’t Own Me by Say Grace with French ice dancer Sylvain Longchambon.
The audience booed as Shahidi and Longchambon were awarded a total of 20 points by the judges.
You Don't Own Me, but Roxy and Sylvain owned it on the ice ❄️ #DancingOnIce pic.twitter.com/vGGqDGJZYI
— Dancing on Ice (@dancingonice) January 14, 2024
Olympian Greg Rutherford was seen jumping in one of his showcased moves as he skated to Queen’s Don’t Stop Me Now along with professional Vanessa James.
Judge Christopher Dean said his high jump was “amazing” and praised his lift of James as he was scored a total of 24.5 points.
The return of Dancing On Ice also saw the comeback of Holly Willoughby to TV screens following her departure from This Morning in October after 14 years on the sofa.
The presenter, 42, has been hosting the ITV skating show since 2006 and is now co-hosting with Stephen Mulhern.
Willoughby worked decades ago with Mulhern on ITV Saturday morning children’s show Ministry Of Mayhem.
Mulhern, 46, hosted Dancing On Ice briefly in 2022 after former host Phillip Schofield tested positive for Covid-19.
Today is the day! I can't wait to be reuniting with @HollyWills at 6:30pm to kick off the brand new series of @DancingOnIce! Don't miss it, live on @ITV! pic.twitter.com/wHBabszKgA
— Stephen Mulhern (@StephenMulhern) January 14, 2024
On Sunday, the series kicked off with an opening performance from the professional skaters and the introduction of the new celebrity contestants.
Willoughby, who wore a silver sparkly dress, said: “To the greatest show on ice, and let’s hear it for the amazing cast of 2024. Let me just say a huge welcome to Stephen Mulhern.”
Schofield left ITV last year after admitting to a relationship with a male employee on This Morning.
Before the series returned, Mulhern wrote on X: “Today is the day! I can’t wait to be reuniting with @HollyWills at 6:30pm to kick off the brand new series of @DancingOnIce! Don’t miss it, live on @ITV!.”
In a post on Instagram, This Morning said: “So great to see @hollywilloughby back on our screens where she belongs. Good luck for tonight’s launch of @dancingonice – we’ll be watching!”