Ben Foden’s wife Jackie Belanoff-Smith looks seething as he becomes the first celebrity to be axed from Dancing On Ice in ‘fix’ row
- The rugby star, 36, and his professional partner Robin Johnstone were the first couple to be eliminated from this year’s Dancing One Ice
- They faced off against presenter Ria Hebden, 39, and her professional skating partner Łukasz Różycki
- Judges Ashley Banjo, Oti Mabuse, Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean voted unanimously to save Ria
Ben Foden was the first celebrity to be booted from Dancing On Ice on Sunday after losing out in the skate off to Ria Hebden.
And the rugby player’s wife Jackie Belanoff-Smith looked seething after he was axed from the ITV competition, as the couple drove away from Bovingdon ice rink.
Meanwhile, furious viewers branded his elimination a ‘fix,’ claiming that Ria was only saved over Ben because she works for ITV show Lorraine as an entertainment reporter.
Fuming! Ben Foden’s wife Jackie Belanoff-Smith looked seething after he was axed from Dancing On Ice, as the couple drove away from Bovingdon ice rink, on Sunday
The rugby star left the ice rink with wife Jackie by his side following his shock elimination from Dancing on Ice.
Dressed in a chic white coat, the American socialite looked to be extremely unimpressed, glaring at the paparazzi as her husband drove them away.
Earlier in the evening, Ben was forced into the first skate-off of the series after he failed to receive enough votes from the public.
Judges Ashley Banjo, Oti Mabuse, Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean voted unanimously to save Ria and her partner Łukasz Różycki over Ben and Robin Johnstone.
First out! The rugby player was the first celebrity to be booted from Dancing On Ice on Sunday
Eliminated: Ben (left) lost out in the skate off to Ria Hebden (right)
Viewers were furious with the result of the skate-off, and took to Twitter to vent their frustrations as many claimed the decision to save Ria over Ben was a ‘fix.’
One person wrote: ‘Ria can’t skate without holding her partner quite literally clinging to her partner whilst Ben is lifting his partner such a fix #dancingonice.’
Another fan of the show fumed: ‘quite clearly a fix #dancingonice,’ with someone else adding: ‘#DancingOnIce what’s going on Ben was much better he did lifts turns, Ria was just thrown about with partner lol.’
‘#dancingonice FIX – seems ITV can’t have one of their own employees go out after week 1 ! Ben was much better – he lead & lifted seriously he could have gone far,’ tweeted a frustrated viewer.’
Someone else raged: ‘Total fix, Ben danced on his own and did lifts of his professional dancer. Ria no solo dancing, spent most of performance off ice in air, stuck to professional like glue. All judges need to go to specsavers.’
Fan reaction: Viewers were furious with the result of the skate-off, and took to Twitter to vent their frustrations as many claimed the decision to save Ria over Ben was a ‘fix’
Speaking about his decision to save Ria, Ashley Banjo said: ‘Well done to both of you, we do have to pick somebody. The couple I’ve picked is because I think the routine had more elements.’
Also voting for Ria, Oti Mabuse added: ‘I’m gonna vote for the couple I felt was more confident and took more risks,’ while Chris said: ‘It’s all about the skating ability and the performance and the couple that had that, to me, is Ria and Łukasz.’
Before he headed home, Holly asked rugby star Ben: ‘Have you enjoyed your time here?’
He was quick to gush: ‘I have. I thought they’d be someone that couldn’t skate, turns out it’s me. I can’t wait to see these guys develop.’
Dancing On Ice continues next Sunday on ITV at 6.30pm.
Feedback: Voting for Ria, Oti Mabuse added: ‘I’m gonna vote for the couple I felt was more confident and took more risks’
Wow: Ben and Robin has earlier impressed the judges as they whizzed around the rink to Ricky Martin’s Livin’ la Vida Loca during their first performance on the show