'Dancing On Ice' judge defends comments

Controversial 'Dancing On Ice' judge Jason Gardiner has defied calls to tone down his bitchy remarks on the show – saying that TV bosses are happy with his performance.

The judge has caused a storm with a string of jibes on the ITV1 series, including 3,500 complaints over his spat with head coach and former judge Karen Barber.

But Gardiner, 45, told TV Times he would not be changing his behaviour and said he found being dubbed a bully “offensive”.

“I’m not there to please anybody or to sugar-coat anything – I’m there as a judge,” he told the magazine.

“The panel has had quite a culling this year and I survived, so if my bosses weren’t happy and the public wasn’t impressed I wouldn’t be here.

“I must be doing something right.”

Gardiner added: “If everybody is talking about the show because of what I’m saying, that’s a bonus.”

Of his argument with Barber over the performance of ex-soldier Johnson Beharry, he admitted: “I’m not thrilled with what I said there and how that came across.”

Gardiner, who told Barber “If your opinion still mattered, Karen, you would still be on the judging panel”, added: “I felt I overstepped the mark. It was personal and I’m not proud of it. I honestly wanted to apologise to Karen.”

Gardiner’s comments have included telling Chloe Madeley she had a “baboon bottom” and ex-Neighbours star Craig McLachlan that he looked like he was performing with a “soiled nappy”.