Some annoyed Dancing on Ice viewers have hit out at this year's final three, once again playing the 'unfair advantage' card with regard to Brendan Cole, Kimberley Wyatt and Regan Gascoigne.
As cameras rolled on Sunday's semi final on ITV, there were just five couples left in the race, with the remaining celebs asked to perform a solo skate, before returning to the rink with their pro partners to perform a routine to a song that meant a lot to them.
Former Strictly star Brendan suffered a slight stumble in his solo skate, putting him second from bottom with the judges after the group performance, but, after a moving second skate, he and ex Dancing on Ice champion Vanessa made it through to the final on the public vote.
Regan made sister Bianca cry with his and Karina's routine to Whitney Houston classic I Have Nothing, after dedicating it to their mum Sheryl and, after viewers had their say, he too advanced through to the final.
That left Kimberley, who dedicated her second skate to husband Max Roberts; Connor Ball and Kye Whyte to battle it out in the dreaded Skate Off for the one remaining final spot and, after all three had skated again, all four judges chose to put Kimberley and partner Mark Hanretty through.
While there is no denying the ability and flair of all three of this year's finalists, viewers have been quick to bemoan the fact they are all trained dancers.
In the aftermath of Sunday's semi final, one frustrated viewer took to Twitter to rant: "Guessed the results of @dancingonice even before watching the show because it was so obvious and no surprise that the three skaters with dance experience, Brendan being a professional dancer, Kimberley being in a girl group and Regan who trained in ballet yet they send home the two most improved dancers which as I said before is no surprise!!!"
In agreement, a second reacted: "This show needs to get back to what it was....no professionally trained dancers its NOT a level playing field,"! with another disgruntled viewer fuming: "I’ll be honest I don’t want to see any more ex strictly pros/ trained dancers for a while after this year, they just have too much of an advantage."
This year's Dancing on Ice final will be delayed by a week due to ITV showing the FA Cup Quarter Final in the show's usual slot on Sunday, March 20.
Predicting that might lead to a lower audience when it does eventually air a week later, one viewer tweeted: "With 3 trained dancers in the final and a 2 week wait for it, I feel like people are going to lose interest and viewing figures for the final are going to be the worst yet. Although to be fair, I saw this coming and lost interest way before tonight."
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