The 37-year-old reality star tackled an energetic routine to the soundtrack of Beyoncé’s Crazy In Love. At one point in the performance, she executed two small jumps, taking two feet off the ice with the assistance of her Dancing On Ice 2019 skating partner Matt Evers, 42. Later in the evening, Gemma Collins took to Instagram to thank her 1.1 million followers for their support after avoiding the skate off. She could be seen lying in bed with her boyfriend Arg, 31, cuddled up behind her. “This is a goodnight from me and Argy. Thank you to everyone that’s supporting me,” she said.
When asked what he thought of her performance on Dancing On Ice, Arg gushed: “I thought you was b****y brilliant — the splits, the little jumps you did…”
He giggled as Gemma interjected: “He thought my little jumps were hilarious.
“He’s taking the mick out of me for them,”(sic) she added, as Arg laughed loudly.
“Nah, you were brilliant,” he insisted, giving her an affectionate squeeze.
“We’re all proud really proud of you. I think you shocked a lot of people tonight.
“Bring on the next one!”
Gemma and Matt scored 16 points out of a possible 40 for their skate.
“Gemma you’re a ledge,”(sic) judge Ashley Banjo, 30, declared. “You’re here, you did it and you smashed the routine.
“There’s loads of work to be done but you did it. It’s week one!”
Jason Gardiner, 47, was less complimentary, having awarded Gemma just 2.5 points.
“You talk up a big talk but you don’t back it up and you didn’t back it up tonight,” he criticised.
“She didn’t do the splits; she had one leg out and one leg, I don’t know what it was doing,” he insisted. “There were moments were it felt a little bit like a French and Saunders parody.”
Meanwhile, Christopher Dean, 60, praised Gemma’s “attack and bravado”, while his former Olympic skating partner Jayne Torville, 61, commended her for getting through the routine and coming back from her many falls on the ice which preceded the performance.
Last night, the first six Dancing On Ice hopefuls skated for the first time before the public vote was combined with the judges’ scores to decide who will have to take to the ice once more in the skate off next weekend.
Former Neighbours actor Mark Little, 59, found himself bottom of the heap and will have to face whoever finishes last in next Sunday’s second live show.
Dancing On Ice continues Sunday at 6pm on ITV.