Jason Gardiner slams Cheryl's dance skills ahead of her new show 'The Greatest Dancer'

Looks like Jason Gardiner is already not taking too kindly to Dancing on Ice’s upcoming rival The Greatest Dancer.

The dancing competition series are set to compete for ratings at they launch in January, and Dancing On Ice’s judge Gardiner has slammed The Greatest Dancer’s judge Cheryl – or at least as far as her dancing abilities go.

In an interview with The Mirror, Gardiner appears to query the legitimacy of Cheryl’s claimed extensive dance background and even calls it ‘questionable.’

“The judging line up on that is questionable as well…what’s her dance background? Where is her dance background? She went to Royal Ballet School that you pay for, an extortionate amount to go to because mum and dad just want to drop you off somewhere for the holidays,” Gardiner said.

Cheryl attended the Royal Ballet School’s summer program from the age of 9 for three consecutive years. The 35-year-old former Girls Aloud member even jokes about her experience of the strict dancing school on the The Greatest Dancer’s opening episode.

She told the The Times Magazine in 2014 that she was only able to attend the prestigious school because she won a scholarship, but quit after three years because she ‘hated it’ and felt ‘different’ compared to the wealthier students.

“Hated it. Squashed the dream. It wasn’t me. I didn’t fit in. It was the first time I’d ever felt…class. I didn’t understand it. I just knew it was…different. And that they were…looking down their noses. If you like. But I couldn’t express it,” she said in the magazine interview.

The Greatest Dancer will feature Cheryl, Strictly Come Dancing’s Oti Mabuse and Glee’s Matthew Morrison as judges. However, the audience will have the ultimate power, and will vote for which dance acts they want put through to the next level of the competition.

This will be Cheryl’s first return to hosting since she was axed from X Factor in 2015. The Greatest Dancer returns on January 5th at 8pm on BBC One.

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