Dancing On Ice 'to get bumper budget for 2021'

By Neil Wilkes, Editor-in-chief | 2d

Dancing On Ice reportedly has its budget inflated by ITV in an effort to secure big names for the 2021 series.

Dancing On Ice has reportedly been given a bumper budget from ITV for next year's series.

The coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc with schedules across the board, but the network are said to be "full-steam ahead" for the next run of the skating contest, which is due to begin in January.

According to The Sun, producers are hoping to secure top names for the show and are already in discussions about signing celebs up.

"It's full-steam ahead for next year's show and casting is already well underway," a source told the newspaper. "The professional skaters will be meeting potential celebrity partners on the ice next month to see how they pair up.

"It takes some time to get the celebs up to speed so they'll spend a lot of time on the ice to make sure they're definitely keen to go ahead. It's only after this that they'll be confirmed. All training will be done safely and with the teams abiding by social distancing rules.

"ITV have taken a hit like all the broadcasters so they're pumping cash into the show in a bid to make it a real ratings winner again. The budget for talent has been inflated so they can splash out on a couple of really big names.

"Dancing On Ice has increased in popularity over the years and now it's picked up a real following, they want to keep the momentum high."

Earlier this week it emerged that ITV has been preparing a series of retrospective episodes, to air in the eventuality that the main show cannot start as planned in January.