Dancing on Ice's The Vivienne makes HISTORY as she becomes ...

23 Jan 2023
The Vivienne
Dancing on Ice's The Vivienne makes HISTORY as she becomes the first drag queen to perform on the show with viewers branding her a 'superstar'

By Geraint Llewellyn For Mailonline

Published: 21:15 GMT, 22 January 2023 | Updated: 21:33 GMT, 22 January 2023

Dancing On Ice returned on Sunday evening with The Vivienne making history on the ITV show, becoming the first drag queen to perform with viewers branding her a 'superstar'

The Vivienne and her pro partner Colin Grafton were thrilled as they scored a total of 28.5 out of 40, with Ashley, Oti and Jayne scoring her 7, while Chris gave a 7.5. 

Oti praised The Vivienne's first performance: 'If you are going to make history, this is how you make history congratulations!'

Amazing: Dancing On Ice returned on Sunday evening with The Vivienne making history on the ITV show tonight, becoming the first drag queen to perform

Chris appeared impressed and said: 'A star was born on the ice tonight. Our very own diva on ice but you are our best skating by far.' 

He then quoted Cher and said: 'We all invent ourselves but some just have more imagination.'

The Drag Queen looked sensational in a black mesh catsuit with shimmering detail across the front, with Colin wearing a matching top and leather trousers. 

Impressive: The Vivienne and her pro partner Colin Grafton were thrilled as they scored a total of 28.5 out of 40, with Ashley, Oti and Jayne scoring her 7, while Chris gave a 7.5

Oti praised The Vivienne's first performance: 'If you are going to make history, this is how you make history congratulations!'

Taking to Twitter one viewer wrote: 'What an absolute superstar' while another added 'Well I think The Vivienne is just fabulous!'.

With a third writing: 'The Vivienne absolutely slayed that!'.

And a fourth gushed: 'Omg The Vivienne that was fantastic, and may I add how gorgeous does The Vivienne look in and out of drag'. 

Loving it: Taking to Twitter one viewer wrote: 'What an absolute superstar' while another added 'Well I think The Vivienne is just fabulous!'

Later in the show John Fashanu became the first star on the line-up to be eliminated from the ITV series.

Meanwhile, Carley Stenson and her professional partner Mark Hanretty topped the leaderboard with the highest score of the series so far.

After the five celebrities performed during week two, it was revealed John would face Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu in the skate off, with both couples performing new routines.

Judges Ashley Banjo, Oti Mabuse, Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean were all in agreement and voted for Ekin-Su to stay in the competition as she included 'more technical skating in he routine'. 

When asked by host Holly Willoughby whether he enjoyed the experience or not, John replied: 'Oh, it's been great,' before saying that it was like the FA Cup final all over again. 

Co-host Phillip Schofield then asked the ex-footballer if he'll 'carry on skating', to which he replied: 'Oh yes! I shall carry on skating and who knows, I might even start teaching people.'

Gutting! Dancing On Ice 2023's John Fashanu became the first star on the line-up to be eliminated from the ITV series on Sunday night

Skate off: After the five celebrities performed during week two, it was revealed John would face Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu in the skate off, with both couples performing new routines

Awful: It was a tough start to the series for fan favourite Love Island's Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu, who landed herself in the bottom two by receiving the least amount of public votes

Tough decision: Judges Ashley Banjo, Oti Mabuse, Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean were all in agreement and voted for Ekin-Su to stay in the competition as she included 'more technical skating in he routine'

John and his professional partner Alexandra Schauman scored 19 out of 40 points for their sporty performance.

Speaking about the former footballer's routine, Chris said: 'I think you are the most improved skater since bootcamp. You were a liability in bootcamp, but you made it, you were steady out there.'

Many viewers at home complained that John's skate off routine was almost identical to that of his main skate. 

They took to Twitter to express their frustration to ITV at the amount of voting time that was allocated on the second week - noting that they didn't even get a chance to get to the page before the vote closed.

When asked by host Holly Willoughby whether he enjoyed the experience or not, John replied: 'Oh, it's been great,' before saying that it was like the FA Cup final all over again

Wow! 60-year-old john, who previously hosted Gladiators, showed off his strength as he lifted Alex during the routine

DANCING ON ICE 2023: MEET THE CONTESTANTS

PATSY PALMER 

AGE: 50

PROFESSION: Actress and DJ

WHAT DID THEY SAY?:  'I've turned it down before because I was terrified, but when I turned 50 I made a pact to get out of my confront zone. '

EKIN-SU CULCULOGLU

AGE: 28

PROFESSION: Love Island star 

WHAT DID THEY SAY?:  'I’ve got some amazing news to tell you. I’m so excited, I can’t wait to get myself on the ice and skate. Stay tuned and see you on the ice.'

 MOLLIE GALLAGHER 

AGE: 24

PROFESSION: Actress

WHAT DID THEY SAY?: 'I've not got the best coordination so when people find out they will laugh, but I don't want to spend my life saying "I can't do this, I can't do that."

JOEY ESSEX

AGE: 32 

PROFESSION: Ex TOWIE star

WHAT DID THEY SAY?: 'I'm so excited. I wanted something in my life with structure and it's more serious than what I usually do.'

 CARLEY STENSON

AGE: 36

PROFESSION: Actress and West End star

WHAT DID THEY SAY?: 'I'm so excited that I get to learn how to dance...on ice! I'm terrified but can’t wait - I just want to make the most of this whole experience.'

SIVA KANESWARAN

AGE: 33

PROFESSION: Singer

WHAT DID THEY SAY?: 'I want to learn how to skate and make my family proud of me and put on a show for everyone to see.'

 JOHN FASHANU 

AGE: 60

PROFESSION: Former footballer and pundit 

WHAT DID THEY SAY?:  'I am definitely in it to win it.And this may be one of the scariest things I've ever signed up for but I couldn't be more ready for the challenge!'

NILE WILSON

AGE: 26

PROFESSION: Olympic gymnast 

WHAT DID THEY SAY?: 'I've not done much ice-skating but I am so excited for the opportunity. I'm so excited to get into that routine and to feel like an athlete again.'

 JAMES LEE WILLIAM AKA THE VIVIENNE 

AGE: 29

PROFESSION: Drag queen

WHAT DID THEY SAY?: 'To be the first drag artist to take part in one of the big UK reality competition shows is an honour and a big step forward for queer representation on TV.'

  DARREN HARRIOT 

PROFESSION: Comedian 

AGE: 34 

WHAT DID THEY SAY?: 'I've got giant feet, I don't skate and I can't dance. My family has already made bets - they’re making bets that I’ll fall on the first episode!' 

 MICHELLE HEATON

AGE: 43

PROFESSION: Singer

WHAT DID THEY SAY?: 'I’ve always wanted to do it but I know I would never have been able to complete anything because of the way I was 18 months ago, so I’m really truly grateful that I’ve got it this year when I’m a lot stronger.'

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