Jason Gardiner 'sorry' for Dancing on Ice slur

Jason Gardiner has apologised for comments he made on Dancing on Ice on Sunday night. The acid-tongued judge outraged viewers of ITV1's family show when he told swimmer Sharron Davies that her performance was "like watching a faecal matter that won't flush". In a statement, Jason said: "I was critiquing the performance of Sharron Davies and made some comments which may have caused offence to her and the viewers. For this I'm sorry and would like to apologise." ITV has received more than 1,500 complaints about the incident, while media regulatory body Ofcom are looking into the incident after receiving "several hundred" more. Chef Gordon Ramsay's wife Tana, who was eliminated on Sunday night's show, also accused Jason of being too 'personal' after saying she had the "sensuality of a frigid schoolmistress". Speaking on This Morning, Tana said: "Some things he says are very personal and there's no need for that" adding that she thought Jason only made such comments to help himself - not the contestants. "When you're putting yourself on the line it's hard to take and can shatter your confidence. You don't need to be brought down like that when it's not constructive."

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Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.