Dancing on Ice judge Jason Gardiner predicts ‘toxic’ ITV will ‘destroy itself’

Ex-Dancing on Ice judge Jason Gardiner is the latest star to have made claims about a "toxic" atmosphere at ITV, predicting that the broadcaster will "destroy itself".

Jason, 51, was one of the original judges on Dancing on Ice when it launched in 2006 and became known as the ITV contest's Mr Nasty, but quit in 2019 after an on-air row with Gemma Collins who claimed he had been selling stories about her.

The former TV judge has denied Gemma's claims and has now told The Sun on Sunday that he feels there is still a toxic culture at ITV even after the Phillip Schofield scandal.

He said: "The fish rots from the head . . . there’s a lot of toxic people still in control."

Jason also accused the broadcaster of hypocrisy over its mental health campaigns, calling them "bulls**t" and claiming that no one had cared about his own mental health.

Talking about his exit from Dancing on Ice, Jason added: "The thing that is so distasteful to me is that I worked hard for them, I gave them great shows, and I know that I helped make that show a success.

"I believe this toxic culture will destroy itself. This is opening Pandora’s box, and rightly so."

Phillip, who also hosted Dancing on Ice with Holly Willoughby, quit This Morning after 21 years in May and has admitted to an affair with a much younger member of production staff.

Other former This Morning stars and contributors, including Eamonn Holmes and Dr Ranj, have spoken out about the "toxic" environment they claimed they had experienced there.

Jason said that he had been strongly encouraged to play up to his Mr Nasty persona as a judge and claimed he would be "frogmarched in" by show bosses after episodes if he was not deemed to be critical enough to the celebrity contestants.

But he said that despite not being easily upset, he could not believe TOWIE star Gemma's accusations during one live episode critique that he had sold stories about her to tabloids.

Jason added that he had felt isolated and upset as public opinion turned against him and claimed that ITV had refused to make a statement backing him, saying that he felt his bosses did not care about protecting him from abuse.

Describing the experience as "hellish" he told how he had spoken to channel bosses about taking legal action against Gemma, adding that the reaction towards him by the public and the media was "very nasty, very dark".

He also complained that the story was being discussed on other ITV shows including Loose Women and Good Morning Britain.

Jason said that he had backed down over legal action as he claims that senior ITV staff had told him suing Gemma would put him in breach of his contract and that he would have to be replaced on the panel.

He later quit the show and has since been living a quieter life out of the limelight.

ITV commented: "This isn't our recollection of events. This was part of a wider conversation outlining the possible ramifications of legal action, and it was felt it would be inappropriate for him as a celebrity judge to be judging an individual contestant against whom he was pursuing a legal case.

"This was no way intended to be seen as unsupportive, more a transparency about the process."

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