Exclusive
Dancing On Ice creative director Dan Whiston would love to get Ruth Langsford on the show
10 March 2020, 11:21
EXCLUSIVE: The DOI pro turned head trainer told Heart.co.uk that he would love to get the This Morning star on the show - and who knows, perhaps Eamonn Holmes, too...
Dan Whiston wants Ruth Langsford compete on Dancing On Ice.
The 2020 series came to a spectacular end last night, but the ITV show's creative director is already looking forward to welcoming a new batch of celebs - and the This Morning host is top of his wishlist.
He told Heart: "I'd really like Ruth Langsford to do it as she's gorgeous. I've always had a little thing for her.
"She was amazing on Strictly. I might even slip my skates back on for Ruth. I would love to skate with Ruth, she's a really lovely person."
But before Eamonn Holmes starts getting worried - the door is open for him, too.
Dan added: "Oh my god can you imagine if Eamonn came on too, we would have the first married couple competing against each other on the show."
The This Morning and Loose Women presenter is no stranger to reality TV, having taken part in Strictly Come Dancing in 2017, and there's another reality regular Dan would love to see kitted out in sequins.
He said: "Katie Price would be an amazing signing. She would wear the most revealing outfits of all.
"I think she would be great. She always speaks her mind, and she's always up for a challenge."
The past two series of Dancing On Ice have seen some incredible outspoken contestants take to the ice.
Last year it was Gemma Collins, whose public slanging matches with former judge Jason Gardiner made for compulsive viewing, and this year it was model Caprice who generated the most shocking headlines.
The 48-year-old sensationally 'parted ways' with her professional partner Hamish Gaman in week three, and then left the show altogether two weeks later.
Read more: Hamish Gaman shares happy news after Caprice 'bullying' row
There have since been allegations of bullying made by both camps.
However, as the storm raged in the press and on the training rink, Dan kept his eye on the prize - that week's show.
He said: "As far as the backstage drama goes we have to crack on and put on a great show.
"I support ITV. That wasn't a decision made lightly. I know ITV bosses went in to meetings for a long time and it wasn't a flippant decision, it was really thought through.
"We didn't really get told on creative what was going on as I simply haven't got time. I was just told that they had parted ways.
"I haven't got time to get involved with that drama. We get the told the decision and we go with it."
Dan knows the pressure that the celebrities are under having been a professional on the show for a decade, and winning the show a staggering three times before being promoted to associate creative director when the show returned in 2018.
He was crowned champion with Gaynor Faye, Hayley Tamaddon and Beth Tweddle, and is regarded as one of the popular reality show's biggest stars.
With so much experience, he knows what it will take to put on a show - and he gets on with it with steely determination.
Dan told Heart: "What I've got in front of me on a Monday is so huge. We have to put together all the routines and the production numbers. We have a mountain to climb.
"If there's a bit of a fall out or a bit of drama, [head coach] Karen Barber and I literally we haven't got time. I urge it to be about the skating.
"At the end of the day it is a skating show. But in any job and any walk of life there is always going to be drama, and in showbiz it's drama times 100. It's laced with sequins and feathers and fishnets - and that's just the boys!
"The pressure to be ready for that week's show will always heighten everything. It is immense. It magnifies it by 100. At the end of the day it is Dancing On Ice, and that is why people are tuning in, for the skating."
But Dan adds that there is an extra element of pressure since he was promoted - he has to come up with the big routines that leave viewers gobsmacked every week.
He said: "They put a lot of faith in me, and in return I have to give them the result and hopefully people are enjoying it."
