Jason Gardiner has slammed the ‘toxic culture’ at ITV while claiming that Dancing On Ice bosses threatened to kick him off the show hours before going on air.
The television personality, known as Mr Nasty, served as a judge on the programme, which was fronted by Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby, for 13 years.
However, he dramatically quit the series in 2019 after an on-air feud with Gemma Collins, in which she accused him of selling stories about her to the tabloid press.
In a new interview, Jason alleged that producers cornered him in his dressing room over an explosive row with the former Towie star and also told him off if he was too nice in his critiques of the celebrity participants.
Speaking about the network’s harmfulness, he said: ‘The fish rots from the head… there’s a lot of toxic people still in control.’
Jason added to The Sun: ‘I believe this toxic culture will destroy itself. This is opening Pandora’s box, and rightly so.’
An ITV source told Metro.co.uk: ‘This isn’t our recollection of events.
‘This was part of a wider conversation outlining the possible ramifications of legal action, and it was felt it would be inappropriate for him as a celebrity judge to be judging an individual contestant against whom he was pursuing a legal case.
‘This was in no way intended to be seen as unsupportive, more a transparency about the process.’
Jason’s comments come after he said he ‘confronted’ Phillip Schofield over his affair with a runner on This Morning.
Last month, Phillip admitted to an affair with a much younger male colleague, which started in 2017 when he was still married and before coming out as gay.
He subsequently resigned from ITV due to lying to his colleagues and bosses about the relationship, which he has continued to insist was ‘not illegal’.
There were rumours of an affair between Phillip and the runner – who has not been named in the media for his privacy – for several years before the former daytime star confessed.
And in 2020, Jason says he sent Phillip a private message after hearing the whispers.
The Australian choreographer, 51 – who was an original judge on Dancing On Ice before leaving for good in 2019 – told The Sun that he DMed Phillip on Twitter.
He explained: ‘I went into a bit of a tailspin.’
‘I said, “I know this is a very difficult moment for you and I support you in your decision to come out, but I also feel that I need to ask you about certain rumours that are going around online and are you aware of them?”.’
He claims Phillip wrote back with a one-word message reading: ‘Seriously?’
‘That was it,’ Jason added.
Earlier this month, This Morning editor Martin Frizell was criticised for his response when asked whether there is a ‘toxic’ work environment at This Morning.
While being approached by Sky News ahead of Holly Willoughby’s return to the show, he replied: “I’ll tell you what’s toxic and I’ve always found it toxic. Aubergine.
‘Do you like aubergine? Do you? Do you like aubergine because I don’t like aubergine. It’s just a personal thing.’
Metro.co.uk has contacted ITV for comment.
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