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Dancing on Ice is due back on screens in a matter of months, with 12 new celebrity contestants being unveiled throughout the day.

Season 17 of ITV’s ice skating competition will return to screens in 2025. An exact date is yet to be confirmed, but it is expected to air in January as has been the case for previous seasons, with contestants starting training as early as next week.

It is understood that Holly Willoughby and Stephen Mulhern will host the forthcoming series together for a second time.

Deal or No Deal star Mulhern replaced Phillip Schofield last year when he quit the network after admitting an “unwise but not illegal affair” with a younger male colleague.

On Monday (30 September), ITV announced the cast for the new season with confirmed contestants already including reality TV stars and broadcasters.

See the rolling list of confirmed contestants for Dancing On Ice 2025 below…

Ferne McCann

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The first star confirmed to take to the ice next year is TV personality Ferne McCann. The 34-year-old is best known as a long-time cast member of The Only Way Is Essex.

Speaking on Good Morning Britain, she said: “I’m looking forward to it, it’s gonna be such a challenge, I’m such a huge fan of the show and with all the glitz and the glamour, it’s gonna be brilliant. I’ve got no idea [who my partner is]. I wanna be good, I am competitive…I’m looking forward to the challenge. We haven’t started training yet, we start next week.”

As well as TOWIE, McCann competed on 2015’s season of I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here, placing third after runner-up George Shelley and winner Vicky Pattison. No stranger to TV competitions, she also featured on Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins and Celebs Go Dating.

McCann, who has two children, previously presented shows including First Time Mum and My Family and Me.

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Mollie Pearce

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Second to be announced on this years line-up is Traitors star Mollie Pearce

Speaking on Lorraine, the 22-year-old said: “It will be fun, I want to challenge myself, I’m ready for the challenge.” Pearc also said that she used to skate with her mother when she was younger.

The disability model and healthcare assistant rose to fame on the second series of BBC’s hit game show The Traitors. She made it to the final of the competition before she was betrayed by her friend Harry Clark, who went on to win the series.

In her work as a disability model for brands such as Tommy Hilfiger, Pearce has modelled different kinds of adaptive clothing, including swimwear and underwear that accommodates a stoma – such as the one she wears due to ulcerative colitis, an autoimmune condition that causes inflammation in the large intestine triggering ulcers and debilitating pain.

Radio DJ Adele Roberts, a fellow stoma bag user who competed on Dancing On Ice last year, sent Pearce a message congratulating her on “the most incredible news” and thanking her for bringing awareness to stoma bags.

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Sir Steve Redgrave

Third on the list is Olympic rowing legend Sir Steve Redgrave, who told This Morning: “It’s like going back to being an athlete again, I’ve been competing most of my life.”

The 62-year-old rower won gold medals at five consecutive Olympic Games from 1984 to 2000, making him the most successful male rower in Olympic history. In 2011, he was awarded BBC Sports Personality of the Year – Lifetime Achievement Award.

The Buckinghamshire-born athlete was made a CBE in 1997, and in 2001 was appointed a Knight Bachelor for his services to rowing.

IT was the Strictly dance off that divided the panel, as head judge Shirley Ballas chose to save Toyah Wilcox, sending Olympian Tom Dean and partner Nadia home.

But now fans of the BBC show think they know the real reason why Shirley used her deciding vote to save Toyah and partner Neil Jones.

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Ahead of the dance-off, Toyah had said: “I am going to give it everything I’ve got and if not I’ll be in Barbados by Tuesday.”

The camera panned to the judges looking unimpressed by her comments.

Now fans are suggesting that Shirley Ballas deliberately chose to prevent her from jetting off to the tropical Island.

One said: “I think that Shirley saved Toyah just so that she couldn’t go to Barbados.”

Meanwhile another said: “Shirley didn’t like Toyah’s defiance on the Barbados comment.”

But much outrage followed the elimination of Olympic Gold medallist Tom Dean, who many believed was robbed of the chance to blossom on the show.

Tom and Nadiya were sent home after performing their Cha Cha to Boogie Wonderland by Earth Wind and Fire.

Judges Craig Revel Horwood and Motsi Mabuse both plumped to save Toyah, but Anton Du Beke thought Tom and Nadiya were the stronger partnership.

With two votes for Toyah and Neil and one for Tom and Nadiya, head judge Shirley cast her cast her deciding vote in favour or Toyah and Neil.

Swimming ace Tom looked visibly crestfallen as he said: “Coming straight from the Paris 2024 Olympics into Strictly Come Dancing has been a whirlwind but I’m so so proud.

“The journey may have ended a little earlier than I hoped and of course I am so gutted, but I’m so grateful for all the amazing people I met, people I’ll be cheering on throughout and who I know will continue to smash it.

And to my brilliant partner @nadiyabychkova, thank you so much for everything. You’ve been an amazing teacher and to have danced alongside you has been an absolute privilege.

“Over and out Strictly! You’ve been an absolute blast x”

A slew of fans on social media raged at the decision to send Tom home, claiming that it was a fix, after Tom has so far achieved higher scores than Toyah in the competition so far.

One said:

“Absolute fix. They obviously have some deal to give Neil more air time this year. Poor Tom. Not on at all,” wrote one fan.

“Tom has been robbed!! Toyah was by far the worse dancer!!! Absolute Fix” said a second.

A furious third wrote: “No…wrong wrong wrong…..getting fed up with this show now,think the judges must be being told who to save, Tom should have stayed over Torah 100%”

“WHAT? Toyah went through to next week over Tom?” raged a fourth. “That’s wrong, Toyah was one of the lowest scoring competitors,along with paul merson.

“Judges call themselves experts, they must either been blindfolded/paid off or told by bbc to put Toyah through.”

Indeed Nadiya Bychkova was also hugely disappointed that her journey on the BBC show had been cut short.

Writing on social media, she said: “I really appreciate all the messages but I’m not ready to talk about what happened tonight just yet.”

Her former partner on the show Dan Walker was also furious at the decision and shared his own post.

He wrote:  “What just happened on Strictly feels a bit messed up.

“@tomdean00’s departure will go down as one of THE early shocks. Lovely bloke who really could have become a great dancer. He looked like he was loving every second of it and @nadiyabychkova looked like she loved teaching him.

“I’m not an expert – and I’m happy for someone to explain – but how he lost that dance off is completely beyond my comprehension. Genuinely thought they could have gone a long way.”

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The Simpsons left fans extremely worried after the surprise airing of its “final” episode– but there was a big twist.

Viewers were left somewhat startled as the long-running animated series’s 36th season, which has bizarrely predicted real-life events for more than three decades, was launched with an episode branded its “series finale”.

However, despite some confusion among viewers, the episode was actually a parody of what makes an effective finale, and imagined what the perfect ending of The Simpsons would look like – as written by AI.

Throughout the episode, there were animated recreations of final shots of shows including The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones and Succession.

But when the title card first appeared on screen announcing the premiere as the “series finale”, viewers quickly jumped to social media to share their surprise at what they believed to have been a well-kept secret.

“IS THIS ACTUALLY THE SIMPSONS SERIES FINALE????” one asked, with another chiming in: “Wait, it’s like not REALLY The Simpsons Series Finale is it!? WTF!”

An additional viewer wrote on X/Twitter: “ Am I really watching the series finale of The Simpsons? Wtf. I don’t remember that announcement.”

What corroborated this concern was the fact the episode was hosted by an animated version of Conan O’Brien, who said at the start: “It’s such an honour to be with you all for the series finale of The Simpsons… Well, it’s true. Fox has decided to end The Simpsons. This show was such a special part of my early career, so being here means the world to me.”

To mark the fake occasion, O’Brien then introduced what he claimed to be the original cuts of classic Simpsons scenes to have aired since it started in 1989. The episode then offered some clichéd ideas of how The Simpsons could end, including Principal Skinner’s retirement, Moe’s shutting down and the death of Mr Burns.

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The meta premiere arrives amid speculation that the series could be preparing for its actual finale. Many believe that the series has outstayed its welcome, and no longer matches the quality upheld from its so-called golden era – from season three to nine.

One viewer theorised that this belief is what might have influenced writers to kickstart the new season with the finale prank, writing: “I love how 20th Century Fox/Disney responded to people complaining about The Simpsons should end and make a parody of a series finale.”

It’s worth noting that Fox is yet to renew the show for a 37th season.

The Simpsons is available to stream in the UK on Disney+.

TOWIE’S Ella-Rae Wise left fans stunned as she stripped to her lingerie at partner Dan Edgar’s door.

The sassy ITVBe star, 24, didn’t hold back as she strolled up the drive to her man’s lavish Essex property in a pair of towering Louboutin heels.

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Ella pulled on a black blazer, semi sheer stockings and styled her hair in a bouncy blow dry for her sizzling moment.

She knocked on the TOWIE star’s door and, as Dan, 33, answered, told him: “I told you I’d make it up to you didn’t I?”

Looking chuffed, he flashed a smile and said: “You did.”

After she untied the robe to flash her black lace bra and thong, the pair shared a snog under a brick arch at the entrance to his home.

He then told her: “Get in you’ll give the neighbours a heart attack.”

The pair then enjoyed a cute movie night and snacks as they tried to re-build their partnership.

One fan was quick to note on X: “Ella is sooooooo hot.”

A second put: “Ella is so into Dan. I really hope he doesn’t mug her off.”

A third then wrote: “They are sooooo cute together.”

Dan and Ella’s relationship shocked the TOWIE cast when it blossomed out in Bali earlier this year.

Yet back in May, she sparked split rumours as she posted a series of cryptic quotes.

In August, the fashion brand founder confirmed Dan had cheated on her as fans issued an urgent warning about her rekindling their relationship.

The Sun revealed how Ella was left furious after finding out Dan had hooked up with Hannah Rally while she was in Dubai.

Speaking exclusively to The Sun, Ella said that their budding relationship was also poisoned by all the background noise.

She said: “When we got home from Bali and when we’d finished filming, I’d still see him and we were pretty close.”

Now the duo appear to be back on track – with Dan’s pal Diags saying he has become a “better person.”

Meanwhile, Ella previously hinted at a new cast feud after she posted a cryptic quote online.

She then took a swipe at her co-stars as she begged bosses for a spin-off show.

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