Jason Gardiner says Holly Willoughby made him feel ‘disposable’
‘I didn’t know her any more’: Jason Gardiner says former co-star Holly Willoughby ‘changed’ during Dancing On Ice and that she made him feel ‘disposable’ after he left the show
Jason Gardiner has said that Holly Willoughby has changed since they began Dancing On Ice together and that she made him feel ‘disposable’.
The star, 51, was an on-off judge on the skating show from 2006 until 2019 while Holly, 42, has presented the series from its launch.
He claimed the TV presenter had gone from ‘friendly’ toward him, to focusing on ‘Brand Holly’ and failed to get in touch with him after he left the series.
Speaking to The Sun, Jason said: ‘When we started out she was very friendly, didn’t have anyone working with her.
‘But on the last series I was on she had a team of about eight people in an entourage following everywhere she went. She became “Brand Holly”. I didn’t know her any more.’
![Hitting out: Jason Gardiner has said that Holly Willoughby has changed since they began Dancing On Ice together and that she made him feel 'disposable'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/06/11/11/72004297-12182589-image-a-21_1686478090051.jpg)
Hitting out: Jason Gardiner has said that Holly Willoughby has changed since they began Dancing On Ice together and that she made him feel ‘disposable’
![Former colleagues: The star, 51, was an on-off judge on the skating show from 2006 until 2019 while Holly, 42, has presented the series from its launch (pictured together with Phillip Schofield in 2018)](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/06/11/11/72004289-12182589-The_star_51_was_an_on_off_judge_on_the_skating_show_from_2006_un-a-23_1686478162905.jpg)
Former colleagues: The star, 51, was an on-off judge on the skating show from 2006 until 2019 while Holly, 42, has presented the series from its launch (pictured together with Phillip Schofield in 2018)
Jason left Dancing On Ice in 2019, and recalled feeling devastated by his former costars – except Ashley Banjo – after they failed to reach out to him following his exit.
Discussing Holly, he said: ‘We were good, friendly colleagues. We would always have a giggle behind the scenes.
‘We had a good rapport. Enough that she could at least say, “Hey, I know it’s been a bit rough. Are you OK?”. But I got nothing. It made me feel disposable.’
Elsewhere in the candid interview, Jason hit out at the ‘toxic culture’ of ITV, claiming Dancing On Ice bosses threatened to kick him off the show just hours before it was due to air.
The star who was an on-off judge on the skating show from 2006 until 2019, claims he was employed to be the programme’s ‘Mr Nasty’ but was told off by chiefs when he made nice comments to the celebrity competitors and their professional partners.
He said he was confronted in his dressing room by executives following his fiery interaction with Gemma Collins during the 2019 series, when she accused him of selling stories on him.
And he has also lashed out at ITV following the axing of Phillip Schofield after he admitted to an affair with a much younger This Morning colleague, telling The Sun: ‘The fish rots from the head . . . there’s a lot of toxic people still in control.’
He added: ‘I believe this toxic culture will destroy itself. This is opening Pandora’s box, and rightly so.’
![Fighting talk: Elsewhere in the candid interview, Jason hit out at the 'toxic culture' of ITV , claiming Dancing On Ice bosses threatened to kick him off the show just hours before it was due to air.](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/06/11/11/71998539-12182589-Fighting_talk_Jason_Gardiner_51_is_the_latest_star_to_hit_out_at-a-24_1686478236251.jpg)
Fighting talk: Elsewhere in the candid interview, Jason hit out at the ‘toxic culture’ of ITV , claiming Dancing On Ice bosses threatened to kick him off the show just hours before it was due to air.
Jason quit Dancing On Ice in 2019 after his altercation with Diva Forever star Gemma, with the Australian choreographer claiming he was ‘hung out to dry’.
He said the culture became ‘gradually worse’ while he was working for ITV, adding: ‘I was getting a lot of mixed signals. And that’s the thing, they played with me.
‘If I wasn’t nasty enough, I was called in after the show, frogmarched in, and sat down like, “What’s happening with you? We haven’t hired you to be nice. We’ve got four other people that will just be very nice and say nothing”.
‘So I knew my place, I was put in my place.’
But Jason said it was his run-in with Gemma that was the final nail in the coffin, with the star claiming he was not backed by show bosses.
He felt the on-air accusation was ‘beyond the pale’ and claims bosses did not want to issue a statement because it would add ‘gravitas’ to the situation.
He claims they wanted to protect the ITV brand over him, while a lawyer pal told him he would have had a ‘strong defamation case’ against Gemma if he wanted to take action.
Jason claims he was visited in his dressing room by Katie Rawcliffe, the head of entertainment at ITV, and asked if he would be taking legal action, to which he told her he was considering it.
![Drama: Gemma Collins lashed out at Jason Gardiner during the third week of the ITV show in 2019](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/06/11/01/8767278-12181987-Drama_Gemma_Collins_lashed_out_at_Jason_Gardiner_during_the_thir-m-77_1686444467279.jpg)
Drama: Gemma Collins lashed out at Jason Gardiner during the third week of the ITV show in 2019
However, Jason claims she went off to speak to the broadcaster’s legal department and told him it would be in breach of his contract and he would be axed from Dancing On Ice if he did.
When things became heated, he ordered her to leave his dressing room, but it is claimed she returned another time with ITV’s head of entertainment commissioning, Siobhan Greene, known as Shu.
He claims he told them he did not like the ultimatum he was being given and that he felt threatened.
‘It was highly pressured and stressful, I felt sick to my stomach. So I backed down because I had no support,’ he said.
However, an ITV source disputed this version of events, telling MailOnline: ‘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.’
MailOnline has contacted ITV for comment.
Jason also claimed he received an abrupt response from Phillip Schofield when the he questioned the former This Morning host over his affair with a younger colleague.
Television presenter Phillip, 61, was dropped by ITV and his talent agency YMU after he admitted to the Mail he’d had an ‘unwise but not illegal relationship’ with a much younger runner on This Morning.
And Jason, who had seen Phil with the runner on the Dancing On Ice set, said he first started to hear talk of the relationship in 2020, when Phillip came out as gay.
The speculation prompted Jason to send Phillip a message on Twitter.
He explained to The Sun: ‘I went into a bit of a tailspin.
![Claims: Jason also claimed he received an abrupt response from Phillip Schofield when the he questioned the former This Morning host over his affair with a younger colleague.](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/06/10/23/71995679-12181667-Claims_Jason_Gardiner_received_an_abrupt_response_from_Phillip_S-a-108_1686437237934.jpg)
Claims: Jason also claimed he received an abrupt response from Phillip Schofield when the he questioned the former This Morning host over his affair with a younger colleague.
![Spotted: Jason, who had seen Phil with the runner on the Dancing On Ice set, said he first started to hear talk of the relationship in 2020, when Phillip came out as gay](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/06/10/23/71995681-12181667-image-a-145_1686435296009.jpg)
Spotted: Jason, who had seen Phil with the runner on the Dancing On Ice set, said he first started to hear talk of the relationship in 2020, when Phillip came out as gay
‘I said, “I know this is a very difficult moment for you and I support you in your decision to come out, but I also feel that I need to ask you about certain rumours that are going around online and are you aware of them?”.’
Jason claims Phillip replied with one single word: ‘Seriously?’
The Australian choreographer added: ‘That was it. It was very dismissive and that made me uneasy because I thought, “I’ve reached out to you very authentically”, and it kind of really p***ed me off.’
MailOnline has contacted a representative for Phillip for comment.
It comes after Phillip broke his silence over claims he could make a comeback on TalkTV following his exit from This Morning.
He left the show after admitting to an affair with a younger man which he branded ‘ill-advised but not illegal’.
However Andy Barr, CEO of 10 Yetis Digital, claimed Phillip could return to the profession in the future, and on Saturday the TV expert told the Daily Star: ‘TalkTV could be the career rebuilding platform that Schofield needs right now.
‘If the current media spotlight reveals no new allegations then this is entirely recoverable for him and TalkTV could be the perfect place for him to start again in a high profile media environment.’
![Host: Phillip presented Dancing On Ice alongside Holly Willoughby before he was dropped from ITV (pictured in February)](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/06/10/23/71996101-12181667-image-m-148_1686435920301.jpg)
Host: Phillip presented Dancing On Ice alongside Holly Willoughby before he was dropped from ITV (pictured in February)
TalkTV is the home of presenters like Piers Morgan and Jeremy Kyle, and the former publicly sympathised with Phillip on social media following his departure from the show.
However, a legal representative for Phillip told The Mirror that the presenter was not planning on joining TalkTV, saying: ‘Absolutely not as far as I know.’
In a recent interview with the BBC, Phillip said he believed his career was ‘over’ and he had ‘lost everything’ after admitting he had lied about his relationship with a younger man on This Morning.
‘I have to talk about television in the past tense, which breaks my heart,’ he told the publication. ‘What am I going to do with my days? I see nothing ahead of me but blackness, sadness regret, remorse and guilt. I did something very wrong, and then I lied about it consistently.’
He said the criticism he’s faced since admitting the affair has had a ‘catastrophic effect’, adding: ‘Do you want me to die? Because that’s where I am. I have lost everything.’
In the interviews, Schofield, who was also dropped by his talent agency YMU after his admission to the Mail about the ‘unwise but not illegal relationship’, said he was ‘utterly broken and ashamed’.
Schofield told the BBC that the young man, who worked as a runner for a short period on This Morning, was 20 when he first had any kind of sexual contact with him.
He told The Sun they had become friends but in 2017 – three years before he came out as gay and separated from wife Stephanie Lowe after 27 years – ‘something happened that just changed it’.
There was ‘a consensual moment’ in Schofield’s dressing room after a show and ‘it was mutual’.
He said he did not have a ‘love affair’ with the man and that ‘it was not a relationship, we were not boyfriends, we were mates’.
![Speaking out: It comes after Phillip broke his silence on claims he could 'rebuild his presenting career through TalkTV' after This Morning scandal on Saturday](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/06/10/17/71684885-12181115-Embattled_Phillip_apologised_in_his_first_broadcast_interview_si-a-74_1686415930192.jpg)
Speaking out: It comes after Phillip broke his silence on claims he could ‘rebuild his presenting career through TalkTV’ after This Morning scandal on Saturday
He said ‘it wasn’t feelings’ he was getting but it was ‘more like mates: excitement’. He added: ‘I was really struggling with my sexuality at that time in the build up to what happened.’ The pair only had ‘five or six romantic encounters’ over a period of around six months.
He said they met at Schofield’s apartment in south-east London only once after he phoned the young man to invite him over for a beer.
He also denied using ITV money to pay for taxis for the man, saying: ‘I don’t have an ITV account.’
Schofield said he had ‘no excuse’ for what happened, ‘no one did anything wrong apart from me’ and ‘I was unprofessional, one time, in a 41-year career’.