Rippon, Sawalha first out of 'Dancing On Ice'

[dutchman]

Angela Rippon and Nadia Sawalha have become the first celebrities to be eliminated from the new series of Dancing On Ice.



The former newsreader and presenter were denied the chance to progress to the next stage of the competition after finishing in the bottom three of the initial public vote along with Laura Hamilton. They were ultimately sent home after the Nickelodeon host was judged by viewers to have performed best in the final skate-off.

Following the elimination announcement, Rippon confessed to hosts Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby that she felt like she had failed professional partner Sean Rice.

"I am gutted, I've had a wonderful time," she said. "I think it's been absolutely tremendous learning to skate with world-class teachers like we have."

Meanwhile, Sawalha - who had previously joked that she would give up her house to stay on the programme - said: "This has been the most incredible experience... What I'm most gutted about is [partner] Mark Hanretty is the most beautiful skater, and [because] he's been holding me up nobody got to see how beautiful he is."

Vanilla Ice, Johnson Beharry, Jeff Brazier, Steven Arnold and Kerry Katona were earlier awarded a place on the show by audience members based on their debut routines tonight.

The remaining half of the cast will compete for a place in Dancing On Ice next Sunday at 6.35pm on ITV1.