Dancing On Ice's James Jordan visited by Strictly pals Vincent Simone and Ian Waite as they join him on the ice at rehearsals

The BBC stars joined 40-year old James on the rink as he showed them what he has been up to since swapping his ballroom shoes for a pair of ice skates.

Vincent and Ian were visibly nervous as they stepped onto the ice, with James taking control as he supported his wobbly pals.

At one point, 39-year-old Vincent slipped onto his back before opting to crawl along the ice on his knees rather than risk standing up again.

Vincent appeared on Strictly for six years between 2006 and 2012, with Ian, 48, working on the show between 2004 and 2010.

James was a pro on the show between 2006 and 2013.

The professional dancers' uneasy experience on the ice will no doubt help put to bed the rumours that James' extensive dance experience gives him an unfair advantage on the ITV skate show.

The TV favourite has been at the centre of controversy since signing up to DOI, and faced further backlash when he scored a staggering 30.5 points out of a possible 40 after his first performance on the show.

He has since remained one of the strongest celebrities in this year's series, even knocking Wes Nelson from the top of the leaderboard at the weekend.

Judges Ashley Banjo and Christopher Dean have both previously defended the star – insisting that his extensive ballroom dancing experience does not give him an advantage.

Ashley previously said: "I can't believe what he did in week one – even Jason [Gardiner] gave him an eight, what does that tell you?

"He has set the bar extremely high."

When asked if James had an unfair advantage, the star replied: "Not at all.

"What dance has given him is a discipline, like a work ethic.

"He works so hard, I know he does, so good on him."

Meanwhile, ice skating legend Christopher Dean insisted that it was the dancer's competitive nature that saw him excel on the ice.

He said at the time: "He is absolutely not too good.

"They did show some clips of him when he first stepped on the ice and he was as hopeless as anybody we've ever seen before.

"He couldn't master it and I was really worried for him.

"His competitiveness and his desire to win is front and centre, and I think we are going to see something quite extraordinary as the series progresses."

James himself also lashed out at the fix claims, telling The Sun's Bizarre column: "People might say I have an advantage as a professional dancer but I don’t.

"It’s taken me a long time to feel confident on the ice. I had the fear from the moment I got onto the rink."

He also confessed that he initially trained with knee and elbow pads on as he was so scared of injuring himself during rehearsals.

However, James' fellow former Strictly pro, Brendan Cole, recently claimed that the competition was "easy" for his friend.

Speaking during an appearance on Good Morning Britain, 42-year-old Brendan said: "I love James and he is doing an incredible job on Dancing On Ice.

"I am very proud of him, I message and watch him every week."

When asked whether or not his pal has an "unfair advantage", Brendan replied: "Of course he does, of course he does.

"He only has to learn to skate, the rest is easy.

"It IS easy, I don't know why everyone is going on about it.

"But look at him, he's beautiful."

Got a story? email [email protected] or call us direct on 02077824220.

We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours.

Source: Read Full Article