Stephen Mulhern caught his Dancing on Ice co-star Holly Willoughby totally off-guard during one segment of Sunday’s show.
Kicking off the new series, Mulhern and Willoughby welcomed six new faces to the ice while the remaining five celebrities will perform next weekend.
However, within moments of transmission, complaints soon flooded in due to Mulhern’s over-emphasis on the fact the show was being broadcast live.
“What an incredible start and welcome to a brand new series of Dancing on Ice,” Willoughby said as the show began.
Mulhern weighed in: “We’ve got our celebrities ready to go and they are backstage right now absolutely bricking it and shhh… shaking in their boots.”
“Yes, they really are,” Willoughby agreed. “But they’ve been paired up with professional partners who’ve whipped them into shape and at the end of the series, one couple will be crowned Dancing on Ice champions.”
ITV Dancing on Ice: Stephen Mulhern almost hits Holly Willoughby in the face
ITV
As the crowd cheered, Mulhern acknowledged: “I know, I know, but between now and then, we’ll see headbangers, Boleros, (and) bruises because we couldn’t be more… live!”
The crowd cheered once more as Willoughby chipped back in: “We really are! They want to do well but to succeed on our rink they will have to impress you and four people who know their ice from their elbow.”
Soon after, the duo introduced judges Ashley Banjo, Oti Mabuse, Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean who were on hand to critique first contestant Sam Aston on the ice.
After Aston performed, Mulhern’s emphasis on the show’s live status continued as Willoughby said: “Right, after the break, things get very real for reality TV star Ferne McCann when she takes to the rink for the first time this series…”
ITV Dancing on Ice: Stephen Mulhern’s running gag sparked fury among viewers
ITV
“Live!” Mulhern bellowed and once the commercials had finished, he revisited the gag yet another time.
“How are you doing? Welcome back to Dancing on Ice where we are… live,” he remarked as he thrust his hand towards the “live” logo that was etched at the top-right of the screen.
However, in doing so, he almost caught Willoughby in the face, a move that prompted the former This Morning star to say under her breath: “Very nearly hit me there.”
Ignoring the near-accident, Mulhern kept up his shtick as he quipped: “So anything can happen. What can happen, Holly?”
“Literally anything,” she replied but by this point as she laughed off the incident, fans had grown tired of Mulhern’s running joke – especially after it almost resulted in him hitting his co-star.
“Is @StephenMulhern wanging on about being LIVE going to be a thing on #DancingOnIce? It irritates me as such a chunk of it isn’t,” one X user fumed before a second sarcastically hit out: “Are they live they don’t mention it .. #dancingonice #DOI.”
“Why do they keep making such a big deal of it being live? #DancingOnIce,” a third questioned while a fourth queried: “Has something happened between series? I don’t get why they keep pushing the fact it’s live. #DancingOnIce.”
“Can someone at itv tell Mulhern to stop his unfunny jokes. #DancingOnIce,” a fifth harshly put while a sixth blasted: “If this is live, I hope Stephen looks at Twitter in the break and calms down. The man ain’t funny #DancingOnIce.” (sic)
