ITV Dancing On Ice's 'uncertain future' after launch night ratings show huge decline in viewers

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Dancing On Ice has only been back for one week but there is already plenty of speculation about who will be the first celeb to be eliminated and the future of the ITV show after average viewing figures have significantly fallen since last year.

The beloved programme, hosted by Holly Willoughby and Stephen Mulhern, returned to screens on Sunday January 12 for its seventeenth season and bookmakers have already released odds on which contestant will be the first to exit the show.

Gambling.com's Entertainment expert, James Leyfield has been monitoring Dancing On Ice and has created markets around the show.

And while the celebrities are hoping to avoid low scores from the judges, it seems the show bosses may have a bigger focus on avoiding low audience ratings.

The expert's comment comes after an average of 2.9 million watched Dancing on Ice's return on Saturday, compared to an average of 3.6 million who watched the launch episode last year.

The ITV skating show is now into just 1/2, from 8/13 with a 66% probability that the programme will be axed later this year. It's 8/11 that Dancing On Ice ends in 2026.

In addition to this, it's believed that Dancing on Ice legends Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean may finally give up their roles as judges on the show after this season.

The legendary skating duo have been on the show since it first debuted in 2006 and are now into 8/15 to quit the show following the current series and it's into 10/11 that the pair depart next year.

This comes after the dancing pair recently announced they will perform for the final time on live television during this series of the show, admitting they are 'too old' to continue with live performances.

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After just one episode of the show, there was already a stand out contestant on Sunday and that is Michaela Strachan who is dancing with professional partner Mark Hanretty,.

As a result, Michaela is just 3/1 to win the series from a massive 25/1 before the off.

Soap star Sam Aston also did well, scoring 27 points, and he is into 9/2 from a best price of 5/1 prior to the weekend.

The Traitors' Mollie Pearce is into 4/1 from 11/2, despite not skating yet, but TOWIE's Dan Edgar has gone in the opposite direction - out to 13/2 from 11/2 - as he awaits his ice debut on Sunday night.

Elsewhere, Hollyoaks star Chelsee Healey finished bottom of the leaderboard on 22 points, and she is on the drift as a result. The star is 25/1 to win the 17th season from 10/1 last week, but she isn't at the bottom of the pile.

In terms of elimination, James revealed that while Sir Steve Redgrave is yet to grace the ice, he finds himself at the top of the Next Elimination market.

Steve is now 100/1 to win this year's Dancing on Ice, from a best price of 33/1 prior to the weekend.

He is also 6/4 favourite to be eliminated next, followed by 7/4 chance Josh Jones and 2/1 third favourite Chelsee.

Dancing On Ice returns to screens on Sunday January 19 at 6:30pm on ITV.

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