TRYING to take a page from ABC’s white-hot “Dancing with the Stars,” Fox is going for the gold with a new celebrity ice-skating show.
The new program, aptly titled, “Skating with Celebrities” will pair famous faces with well-known pros in a weekly elimination competition, reports Variety.
“If it’s interesting to see celebrities ballroom dancing, it’s going to be incredibly interesting to see if they can master a double axel and a spin,” said Fox reality programming boss Mike Darnell.
“Watching a celebrity try to master something this intricate is going to be compelling to watch. We expect a lot of falls and a lot of nerves.”
He declined to discuss casting.
“You can expect to see the participation of some major names,” he said.
Darnell believes the huge popularity of Olympic figure skating proves that viewers have an appetite for the show.
“Dancing with the Stars,” an American version of a show imported from England, has turned out to be the surprise hit of the summer and another potent weapon for ABC in its growing arsenal of quality programming.
On that show, celebrities are paired with professional ballroom dancers and compete each week. Viewers and judges both participate in the somewhat complicated elimination voting process.