Dancing On Ice professional Hamish Gaman has pulled out of Sunday night’s show.
The 36-year-old professional skater – who had been partnered with Caprice Bourret on the show until it was announced they’d ‘parted ways’ – has taken to Twitter to reveal he has been “struggling” for the past few months and feels “vulnerable” following his public clash with Caprice, which led to her quitting the series earlier this month.
He wrote: “Hi everyone. I’m sad to say that I’ve pulled out of appearing on Dancing On Ice tonight.
“The past three and a half months have been the worst of my life, and I’m struggling. It might look like things have been calming down, but they ain’t.
“Numerous defamatory articles have been stopped from running in the press over the past few weeks.
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“These untrue stories are continually being fed to the press by a ‘source’. I’ve been told by various people where these articles and source quotes are coming from, and it’s clear that they are trying to destroy my reputation.
“It’s become relentless and I feel extremely vulnerable. I’m asking them to stop (sic).”
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The ITV skater thanked his fans for their understanding and insisted he pulled out of Sunday night’s show because he “couldn’t face it”.
Hamish continued: “I desperately want to move on from all of this and focus on the skating.
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“I’ve done absolutely nothing wrong, and was told by the team who reviewed all the rehearsal footage that I was an ‘exemplary pro’.
“I can only hope that this will all be over soon. I am so sorry to not be oil the ice tonight but I couldn’t face it. Thank you for your support and kind messages. (sic)”
Caprice parted ways with Hamish in the second week of the ITV skating competition after rumours of apparent ‘bullying’ emerged, and the star was then partnered with Swiss figure skater Oscar Peters.
However the 48-year-old model-turned-businesswoman chose not to return to Dancing On Ice because she wanted to "recover and look after herself and her family".
A representative for Caprice said in a statement: “It's true that Caprice is no longer participating in Dancing On Ice. It's been a hard few months and she's had to keep silent for contractual reasons.
"Her mental wellbeing has been affected over the last two months and recent stories leaked to the press are not only salacious but extremely hurtful. Now she's taking some time to recover and look after herself and her family.”