Jason Gardiner has lambasted ITV’s ‘toxic atmosphere,’ saying that Dancing On Ice management threatened to fire him hours before the show aired.
Mr Nasty, the television personality, was a judge on the show, which was hosted by Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby, for 13 years.
However, he abruptly left the show in 2019 following an on-air spat with Gemma Collins, who accused him of peddling tales about her to the tabloid press.
Jason said in a recent interview that producers cornered him in his dressing room following an explosive dispute with the former Towie star and also warned him off if he was too kind in his criticisms of the celebrity contestants.
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 said: ‘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 remarks came after he claimed on This Morning that he ‘confronted’ Phillip Schofield about his involvement with a runner.
Phillip acknowledged last month to an affair with a considerably younger male coworker that began in 2017, when he was still married and before coming out as homosexual.
He then resigned from ITV after lying to his colleagues and supervisors about the connection, which he maintains was ‘not unlawful’.
For several years, there had been whispers of an affair between Phillip and the runner, who has not been named in the media to protect his privacy.
After hearing the murmurs, Jason claims to have sent Phillip a private message in 2020.
The Australian choreographer, 51, told The Sun that he DMed Phillip on Twitter. He was an initial judge on Dancing On Ice until quitting for forever in 2019.
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 alleges Phillip responded with a one-word reply that read, ‘Seriously?’
‘That was it,’ Jason added.
This Morning editor Martin Frizell was chastised earlier this month for his remark when asked if the workplace at This Morning is “toxic.”
When asked about Holly Willoughby‘s return to the show by Sky News, he said, “I’ll tell you what’s poisonous, and I’ve always thought 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.’
