The first episode of Dancing On Ice 2025 saw fewer than three million viewers on average tune in live and watch BBC presenter Michaela Strachan top the leaderboard.
The ITV skating competition, which paid tribute to former contestant The Vivienne as it returned with hosts Holly Willoughby and Stephen Mulhern, drew a peak audience of 3.1 million across ITV and streaming platform ITVX on Sunday night from 6.30pm to 8pm.
An average of 2.9 million viewers watched the episode, compared with last year when an average of 3.6 million viewers tuned in for the launch show – which marked Willoughby’s return to television after leaving This Morning in October 2023.
It's lights, camera… and a whole lot of laughs with these two! 🤍❄️ pic.twitter.com/JyRalxqIR5
— Dancing on Ice (@dancingonice) January 13, 2025
There was a peak audience of four million for the opening show in 2024, when Mulhern joined to replace former This Morning host Phillip Schofield following his exit from ITV.
The 2025 launch saw Springwatch presenter Strachan, 58, and professional skater Mark Hanretty impress the judges with a routine to Let’s Do It by Cole Porter, which scored 30.5 points.
Willoughby began the show by saying RuPaul’s Drag Race UK winner The Vivienne, James Lee Williams, will be “very sorely missed”, following their death last weekend at the age of 32.
The 43-year-old host is returning to TV after a security guard was found guilty and sentenced over a plot to murder and rape her.
She is also set to present a new show for Netflix called Celebrity Bear Hunt, in which adventurer and survival expert Bear Grylls hunts down contestants, which is set for release in February.
Competitors in the latest series of Dancing On Ice include Olympic rower Sir Steve Redgrave, former The Only Way Is Essex star Ferne McCann, EastEnders actress Charlie Brooks, Waterloo Road star Chelsee Healey, and The Traitors 2024 runner-up Mollie Pearce.
– Dancing On Ice returns to ITV1 and ITVX at 6.30pm on Sunday.
