Jason Gardiner has insisted that he chose to leave Dancing On Ice, following claims he was fired.
It was announced yesterday that Louie Spence and Katarina Witt would be replacing Gardiner and Emma Bunton as judges on the ITV1 skating competition, making Robin Cousins the only remaining original judge.
The Mirror reports that Gardiner was angry after producers secretly auditioned Spence for the role.
"I can assure you I am not upset nor was I fired from DOI. Fact," Gardiner wrote on Twitter.
The judge had often caused controversy on the show with his harsh comments to contestants. He famously told former judge and current head coach Karen Barber: "If your opinion still mattered, you'd be on the panel."
An ITV insider said: "There have been criticisms that Jason had got too harsh, with many viewers questioning whether he was qualified to criticise ice skating, but nobody will be able to say that about Katarina.
"She is an international superstar in the skating world, and the producers have approached her several times over the years so it's great to finally get her. Viewers don't mind fair criticism, but there is a real feeling that last year things went too far."
Christine Bleakley recently replaced Holly Willoughby as co-host of Dancing on Ice alongside Phillip Schofield.
