Their treatment of the professional skaters is pretty disgusting I think

Firstly when the celebs skate onto the ice at the begining of the show the commentator announced the pro's name almost as an after thought. For example they will say 'first up its so and so' then a long pause, and then ' and their parnter so and so' in a really dismissve tone. Its like they are not important, when they are.

Secondly there is literally no information on the pro's on the official site. No biographies at all, so we have to trawl the internet for snippets of information.

Thirdly they don't even get a proper introduction. For example on Strictly Come Dancing, at the start of each series we get a little snippet on each pro- even if they have been on the show for years. So we know a bit about them and what they have achieved etc. This doesn't happen on DOI.

Finally the professionals are never properly aknowledged. After they have skated, Phillp never bothers to interview them. He might ask them the odd question, but thats all. When the celebs appear on a TV show or something their proffesional partner is rarely with them. Like on This Morning the other day- where were the professionals?!

I find this really disgusting! These people are putting themselves and their careers in quite dangerous situations on the show by skating with inexperieced celebs! Why can't ITV have the courtesy to treat them with the respect that they desrve?

I agree, and also unlike SCD they don't get to do pro dances to be able to show what they can actually do. The other problem is that unlike SCD the pros don't get to come up with the choreography themselves so they don't get any credit for things like that either

I can't see any pros moaning about their treatment in the newspaper...unlikely a pro from Strictly Come Dancing.

I think the pro's in general prefer staying the background. It appears they're just happy that ice skating is being more widely promoted in this country, and they are assisiting in this.

Obviously I think it'd be nice for them to be promoted more widely on the website and during the show (I think it'd help if Dancing on Ice had a spin off, like It Takes Two). But I'd argue we need to hear more about them from the viewer's point of view rather than the professionals point of view, as they seem content currently.

I agree with you. I spent a while trying to figure out why that could be and one reason was that maybe they felt the DOI professionals are inferior to the SCD professionals? That's not to say that I think so, however, I was looking up their biographies and it seems like some of them have skated in shows but not competitions? Perhaps ITV is scared of admitting that?

They did have a spin-off show during Series 1 and 2 towards the end but they were all got rid off in Series 3 so the only time you heard from them was on other talk shows

Interesting to know...
Although that doesn't stop them giving them an oppertunity to do pro dances in the results show (It make an excuse for them to shorten the extensive recap )

They badly need to bring back Defrosted with Stephen Mulhern! That show was often better than the real programme.

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Actually it probably was....

When they talked to the Judges was always a good bit and also it wasn't full of past clips like the results show is :yawn:

As a fan of SCD I sometimes think that maybe DOI got it right by not focusing on the Pro Skaters - they change the pros most series apart from the core regulars without it really affecting the show - I conceed they are a vital part of the show but by not putting the emphasis on them it does make for less problems with egos etc.

I have found the pro skaters to be really great they take time to answer stuff from fans and Kristina, Dan, Matt, Frankie and Pamela (from series 1 & 2) always take time out of their busy schedules to do webchats and stuff on the BR

I feel the main difference is that the pros on DOI do not have the same input into the teaching, routines, etc of the celebs, as they do on Strictly.

Although Strictly pros do bring in "helpers" when they need to, it is still their responsibility to teach/train their celebs, make sure their routines are suitable, etc etc etc.

In DOI the routines the pro skaters do not put the routines together; these are done by Jayne, Chris, Karen, or Karen's hubby, who then teach the routine to both celeb & pro skater, only leaving them to practice alone when they feel the routine is sufficiently known by both.

On the whole, the Strictly pros have reached much higher status and experiance as dancers, than the DOI pros as skaters. (I did say "on the whole" - there's always exceptions). Maybe this is why ITV do not give them the same coverage as Strictly does to its pros.

According to Nicole Cutler the pros on SCD are not treated well - although I would like a performance by the professional partnerships.

She had been dropped - sour grapes spring to mind.

I agree there doesn't seem to be any Brendan Cole types on DOI. But surely it would do no harm to give them a bio on the website?

When did Nicole ever show sour grapes? Please get your facts right! Did you not see the apology the NOTW printed?

Perhaps - or maybe, having been dropped, she took the opportunity to tell it as it is.

I agree with this. I find it really annoying we arent told more info about the pros. On the tour the pros get to perform a bit more and sometimes with the other pros. Mel and Fred skated together as did Andrei and his wife.

But we really should get more information on them. I like a lot of the pros but may not like a celeb they are skating with for example but it would be nice to get more info on them

I think the skaters are treated better on DOI than SCD than what it may seem but I don't think Jayne and Chris would ever let them be treated poorly as they know what a vital part they are.

But if the skaters are anything like Jayne and Chris, they're probably happy enough to just get on with the skating and are grateful there are no media backstage fights in the papers about them. Although I think it would be nice if they could fit more professional routines in from time to time like they do in the tour to show them off without the celebs, because VT's of past history don't really show a skater off and makes people want to find out more, it's their skating that does.

I think its fine. I prefer DOI in every way to Strictly... Just because the DOI pros don't have as big a part in the show to the SCD ones, it doesn't mean they're not valued. I for one value them very much!

I'm hoping that with Chris out for a while we'll get to see more of them performing too!

The interview in question was a total fabrication by the NOTW. Initially they refused to print an apology and it was only after several months and a complaint by Nicole to the the Press Complaints Commission that they very grudgingly printed a full apology - albeit hidden away inside the paper.

Please get your facts right before slagging someone off.

Ive read that the choreography in DOI is a collaboration with T&D and the pro skater for each routine.

T&D give them a basic format and its up to the pro with sometimes a bit of help from T&D and Karen and her husband to deliver a finished routine on the show. The pro is much more aware of what their celeb can and can't do, and can work the routine round those strengths and weaknesses to make their celeb look good!

Thats because the newspapers haven't got a clue who they are unlike the Strictly Pros

I love some of the Strictly pros but I do think some of them have got too big for their boots!

DOI to me is like how Strictly used to be. I like it!

I agree that ITV don't really treat the pros well. I have contacted the itv.com team asking them if they would ever consider putting a section just about the professionals but i doubt they will.

The pro skators should, certainly, be given more coverage.

They are just as mportent to the show and to the rutiens as the celebs.

It wouldn't take mutch to give them just a little recognition and show us just a little more of and about them.

Fortunately though, the pro skators are gaining fan bases of their own without any help from ITV. This is certainly well deserved. Personely I'm more interested in the pro skators than the celebs.

An extra program would certainly help DOI. I don't know why they got rid of the extra programs they had for the first 2 series. They provide extra programs for just about every other reality program they show.

A couple of friends have actually said to me that they don't like DOI because you don't get to see the professionals do routines, it's always Jane & Chris. In fact they turned off the Christmas Show as there were too many dances by Jane & Chris, they felt it should be renamed the Torvill & Dene Show. This isn't my views btw so don't shoot the messenger.