Dancing on Ice 2023: Joey Essex prompts ‘hidden gesture’ from Jayne Torvill following emotional skate

Joey Essex paid tribute to his late mum with an ‘emotional’ personal skate during the Dancing on Ice semi-final on Sunday.

The Only Way Is Essex Star, 32, from Southwark, also paid tribute to his partner Vanessa Bauer’s, 26, father who passed away last year.

Joey and Vanessa’s tear-jerking routine prompted a ‘hidden’ gesture from figure skater and Dancing on Ice judge Jayne Torvill to will Joey on during his performance.

After finishing second in the solo skate amongst his fellow contestants, Nile Wilson, The Vivienne, Siva Kaneswaran and Molly Gallagher, Joey took to the ice for his ‘personal’ routine.

During the video before the performance, Joey opened up about how his mother took her own life when he was 10-years-old.

The reality star explained that the song by the Lighthouse Family meant a lot to him as he remembered hearing it on a family holiday after her death.

He also shared that the song was special to Vanessa who’s dad had passed away last year.

Following the routine, Vanessa Bauer became overwhelmed by emotion as she turned away from the camera as she tried to hold back tears.

Joey told hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield: "I did that for my mum, but I also did it for Vanessa..

"Obviously she’s been a great support for me and this week’s been really emotional. Vanessa lost her dad last year, too.

"Hopefully anyone watching this skate tonight can look at it and smile. There’s light at the end of the tunnel."

Seeing Vanessa’s reaction to Joey’s comments, Holly then urged the reality star to give her “a cuddle” before they got their feedback.

After scoring 38 points out of 40, Olympic figure skater Christopher Dean revealed that his skating partner and fellow judge Jayne Torvill had been squeezing his hand during the performance.

Jayne then revealed that she performed the sweet gesture to will the couple on during the most ambitious lift of their routine.

The Olympic gold medalist told Joey and Vanessa: “I squeezed his hand as you were coming up to the big lift. I was like ‘please do it, please do it.’”

Jayne had returned to the figure skating competition on Sunday with her arm in a sling after a previous accident on the rink during rehearsals the week before.

The longstanding judge on the show had also had surgery during the week, just a few days before returning to the semi-final.

An emotional skate from Joey and Vanessa comes as the couple are the centre of romance rumours.

The pair have reportedly been spotted kissing backstage of Dancing on Ice as Joey has revealed he has a ‘soft spot’ for his figure skating partner.

Vanessa has this week paid tribute to Joey in a sweet Instagram post that revealed she was ‘proud’ of the reality star.

It came just days after she shared a photo of the couple cosied up backstage of the figure skating programme ahead of the semi-final.