Ryan Thomas endured a challenging performance on Sunday night's Dancing on Ice, falling twice during his Musicals Week routine. The former Coronation Street star, who had been an early favourite with bookmakers after a strong debut, struggled during his skate to 'Sit Down You're Rockin' The Boat' from Guys & Dolls alongside professional partner Amani Fancy.
In the pre-recorded VT, Thomas and Fancy were seen rehearsing the tricky routine, which had already seen a mishap the previous week when Thomas dropped Fancy. During the live show, Thomas fell to the ice after separating from Fancy for solo skating and then lost his footing again during a step sequence, landing on his back. Despite the falls, Thomas assured host Holly Willoughby that he was not injured.
The judging panel, including guest judge Johnny Weir, awarded scores ranging from 5.5 to 6.5 out of 10. The 6.5 scores from three judges sparked controversy among viewers, who took to social media to argue that the marks were too generous given the errors. One viewer wrote, 'Anyone can fall on ice but there’s no way Ryan deserved 6.5 should of been marked lower especially when he fell twice.' Another commented, 'Oh dear. Ryan is the first to fall twice in a live show in the same routine. And yet the judges still score 6.5. Utter ridiculousness.'
Despite ending near the bottom of the leaderboard, Thomas avoided elimination in the double elimination episode. Roxy Shahidi was eliminated without a skate-off, and Lou Sanders lost the decider to Ricky Norwood, ensuring Thomas's place in the competition.
