DANCING On Ice’s Joey Essex left fans cringing after kissing pro partner Vanessa Bauer live on-air.
The duo took part in Dancing On Ice’s movie week, and performed a routine to High School Musical’s Breaking Free dressed as lead characters Troy and Gabrielle.
However, as their routine wound to an end, Joey got carried away and went in for a full-on smooch with professional skater Vanessa as the routine came to a close.
The kiss clearly shocked Vanessa, who laughed before joining Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby for the judges scores.
When Phillip brought it up, Joey declared the moment as Vanessa’s “first kiss on TV ever”, with Vanessa remaining silent.
They scored 32.5 for their efforts, with Ashley Banjo commenting that the Towie star “continues to surprise him”.
But the kiss was the main event for viewers, who all had the same thought as they watched it in real time.
“Did joey Essex just kiss that girl on live tv omg she looked uncomfortable,” wrote one.
A second said: “I think Joey was a bit out of order with that kiss seem to made vanessa uncomfortable.”
A third agreed and added: “Vanessa’s reaction to that attempted kiss was all of us watching. Super cringe”
“Idk whats really going on with joey and Vanessa but cringing at him trying to kiss Vanessa,” said a fourth.
Joey and Vanessa have been fanning rumours of a relationship off the ice ever since they were first partnered together.
Becoming inseparable, both have been seen on a string of “dates” inbetween working on their routines.
However, neither have publicly confirmed it as of yet.
A backstage source told HOAR: “A number of people saw Joey and Vanessa kissing.
“We were all surprised because until now they’ve danced around what’s happening, you know lots of ‘he’s great’, ‘she’s great’, lunches and attending parties, to the point where I think everyone wondered if there was anything other than a flirty friendship there.
“But there was nothing friendly about these kisses, if you get what I mean.
“Good on them!”
Dancing On Ice airs Sundays at 6.30pm on ITV1 and is available to stream on ITVX.
