Rufus Hound is AXED from Dancing On Ice after the comedian tested positive for Covid-19 twice

Rufus Hound will play no further part in the current series of Dancing On Ice after testing positive for COVID-19 for a second time. 

The comedian, 41, took to Twitter on Wednesday evening to announce in a video message that he has sadly had to withdraw from the skating competition.  

Rufus and his professional partner Robin Johnstone have both been axed from Dancing On Ice and will be replaced by Matt Richardson and his pro-skater partner Vicky Ogden this weekend. 

Rufus tweeted: ‘I will no longer be participating in @DancingOnIce. COVID is – as I’m sure we’re all well aware – a b**tard and sadly the world isn’t short of those.’

In an accompanying video from the comedian, Rufus admitted his dissapointment as he said: ‘Hello it’s Rufus here, I’m going to keep this as brief as possible, this is not the first of these I’ve tried to record, they all seem to take a million years.

‘I just really quickly want to say two things, the first is the news I won’t be participating in DOI. Unfortunately after coming into contact with someone who had COVID, it transpired that I had COVID.

‘The rules in DOI are very cut and dry, very strict, so it seemed like when I was just quarantining there might be a window of opportunity for me to get back to the show, a window I now know doesn’t exist.’

 

Continuing on, Rufus admitted he was excited to achieve more with Robin with the aim of making their performances ‘as crazy as possible.’ 

He said: ‘That’s it that’s the reason I’m not on DOI… is the health and safety team said that’s something they can’t allow.

‘And that sucks, because I got to spend a big chunk of the last six months with Robin Johnstone who has been a tremendous pal throughout all this and a human sunshine.

‘I was ready for all sorts of mad ideas, it’s one of the things that sucks, we could have dressed as battle dwarves, that was going to be one of the things, or for Valentine’s Day, do an ice rave to only love will set you free.

‘We just really were setting out to make it all as crazy as possible, and now we won’t get a chance to do that, so for the effort Robin put into trying to make it as good as possible for me, to make me as good as possible, sucks.

 

In a statement, ITV spokesperson said: ‘We can confirm that following a positive test result, Rufus Hound is unable to return to Dancing On Ice this weekend.

‘Although Rufus and his partner Robin’s time on the ice has been all too brief, they can be truly proud of their achievements. We thank them for all their hard work and commitment to the show.’

With the departure of Rufus and Robin, comedian Matt Richardson and his pro-skater partner Vicky Ogden will replace them on the line up from this weekend. 

It’s hoped that when the full cast reunite for the series’ final, Rufus will be able to be back in the studio with everyone.