WE’RE No.1 FOR TELLY + WE’RE No.1 FOR TELLY + COLD WAR ‘Mr Nasty’ is too wet, claims ice king Jason
DANCING On Ice judge Jason Gardiner says Simon Cowell has lost his touch.
The outspoken 47-year-old claims his TV rival is “too wet” – and that’s why The X Factor’s ratings have nosedived.
When Simon, 59, first shot to fame with his Mr Nasty persona his shows were watched by 10million viewers. But these days he has less pulling power.
Jason said: “From what I have seen I think Simon is now…well, he’s a bit nice and a bit wet. Look, what viewers was X Factor getting last year? Two million, wasn’t it? Well those viewing figures speak for themselves. I don’t have any advice for Simon. But I won’t ever become wet myself. Not at all.”
Jason also became a household name as one of TV’s toughest judges. And he’s still as acid-tongued as he was when Dancing On Ice launched in 2006. Viewers have seen him clashing with co-star Karen Barber and TV actor Tim Healy live on air.
Jason said: “I don’t set out to be controversial or have spats on TV. All I maintain is I am going to tell the truth and so if you need improvement, I give you tough love. I am not there to blow smoke up you. I am there to say, ‘right, OK, here’s the truth, if you don’t improve here, and up your game for X, Y, or Z then you don’t deserve to be in the competition’.
“It’s really that simple. Similarly, if you are brilliant, I will praise you as well. I’m very, very fair, I judge what I see, not what I know and not what you’ve done but what you are doing right there and then in front of me.”
The X Factor’s ratings dropped to just four million last series. But Jason is confident Dancing On Ice won’t have the same problem when the new series kicks off tonight.
Jason said: “This is all about viewers tuning in, so I understand if you’ve got good draws people will come in and commit to watching the show because that person has got a fantastic fanbase. I understand that.
“And I famously never know anybody, but I know most of these people this year and that says something! “I mean, how many years have I been doing this? And every year I’ve never known half of them. This year I know most of them.
“But as it goes on it gets less and less about the name, the star attraction. For example, look what happened with Pamela Anderson – I voted her off week one. She was paid a fortune and she skated just one-and-a-half minutes.” DAILY STAR SUNDAY SAYS – PAGE 6