Holly Willoughby's friend and former co-star Jason Gardiner has hit out at the presenter over her treatment of him.
He said Willoughby was once “very friendly” but “changed” on her rise to stardom.
The Australian choreographer, who appeared as an on-off judge on Dancing On Ice from 2006 to 2019, has hit out at Holly’s attitude when he departed the show and waded in on the scandal surrounding Phillip Schofield and ITV leadership.
Gardiner said: “When we started out she was very friendly, didn’t have anyone working with her.
Holly Willoughby has returned to the This Morning sofa
ITV“But on the last series I was on she had a team of about eight people in an entourage following everywhere she went. She became 'Brand Holly'. I didn’t know her any more.”
Gardiner added during his interview with The Sun: “We were good, friendly colleagues. We would always have a giggle behind the scenes.”
When Gardiner, 51, left Dancing On Ice in 2019, he recalled feeling hurt that his former co-stars failed to reach out to him, with the exception of dancer Ashley Banjo.
On Holly’s silence, Gardiner reflected: "We had a good rapport. Enough that she could at least say, 'Hey, I know it’s been a bit rough. Are you OK?'. But I got nothing. It made me feel disposable."
Jason Gardiner (second left) only felt supported by Ashley Banjo (far left) when he left Dancing On Ice
PA
The recent controversy following Schofield’s departure from ITV and Holly Willoughby’s decision to stay on as a host of This Morning has brought back unpleasant memories for Gardiner.
In the candid interview, Gardiner took aim at the ‘toxic culture’ at ITV, alleging that Dancing On Ice bosses threatened to boot him from the show just hours before it was due to air.
This followed a full-blooded confrontation between Gardiner and Gemma Collins live on air during the 2019 series, where Gemma accused him of selling stories about her.
Gardiner said he was confronted in his dressing room after the show by Katie Rawcliffe, head of entertainment at ITV, and asked if he would take legal action against Gemma, to which he said he was considering such a move.
According to Gardiner, the matter was then relayed to the broadcaster’s legal department and he was told it would be in breach of his contract and he would be axed from Dancing On Ice if he brought legal action.
He said: “It was highly pressured and stressful, I felt sick to my stomach. So I backed down because I had no support.”
Gardiner reached out to Schofield amid rumours before Schofield admitted affair
PA
An ITV source disputed this version of events, telling MailOnline: “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 no way intended to be seen as unsupportive, more a transparency about the process.”
Gardiner claims that ITV sculpted an image of him as a nasty person from which he was not allowed to deviate.
He said: "If I wasn't nasty enough, I was called in after the show, frogmarched in, and sat down like, "What's happening with you? We haven't hired you to be nice.""
Responding to the news about Schofield, Gardiner said: “The fish rots from the head . . . there’s a lot of toxic people still in control.”
Gardiner added: “I believe this toxic culture will destroy itself. This is opening Pandora’s box, and rightly so.”
