Dancing On Ice’s winner is predicted ahead of the new series as key traits mean they could be crowned the champion

Coronation Street’s Sam Aston is the most likely contestant to win ITV’s Dancing on Ice, according to new data analysis.

The series, which is 17 years old, returns to screens on Sunday, January 12 at 6:45 p.m.

Sam joins the likes of TOWIE’s Fearne McCann, The Traitors stars Mollie Pearce and Chelsee Heeley in forming the line-up.

Ahead of the first episode, Slotozilla odds experts analyzed data from the show’s previous winners to reveal what constitutes a winning contestant.

The study, which uses 15 years of data, analyzes a range of factors including the participant’s occupation, place of residence, age, gender and more.

Their research found that almost three-quarters of previous winners were men.

Those aged 26 to 35 were also the most likely to win, with entrants from North West regions such as Manchester, Liverpool and Yorkshire also leading the way to success.

With these statistics in mind, the experts predict that 31-year-old Sam Aston of Burnley has the best chance of winning.

The actor, who is best known for playing Chesney Brown in Coronation Street, wouldn’t be the first soap winner as he follows in the footsteps of 2024 champion and Coronation Street co-star, Ryan Thomas.

Although Sam meets four of the five main criteria, in second place is Manchester-born comedian Josh Jones, who also fits into the winning age category at 32 with three points.

Anton Ferdinand, Dan Edgar and Chris Taylor are all likely to finish in third place, scoring just two of the four winning criteria, while Chelsee Healey is the only woman to secure more than one point in the rankings.

Commenting on the findings, Marie Toland, Senior Editor of Slotozilla, said: ‘Dancing on Ice is a firm favorite on the British TV calendar and is one of the most looked forward to shows by Brits to brighten up the New Year.

When we analyze the historical data of past winners, we think there is a good chance that Sam Aston is the most likely winner, although of course that all depends on how he performs on the ice!’

It comes as the show has changed the structure of the show in a huge shake-up intended ‘to avoid upsetting the celebrities’.

ITV bosses are said to have changed the dance-off as the stars will no longer have to skate a new performance if they find themselves in the bottom two, according to T.he sun.

Normally, the celebrities not only had to learn a routine for their weekly performance, but also put together a dance, for which they were voted in the bottom two.

Now it is believed the stars will simply have to relearn what they did for the main competition, as duty of care is said to be ‘of paramount importance’ to ITV bosses.

A source told the publication: ‘On Dancing on Ice in the past, all couples had to prepare a special skate-off dance that would be ready in case they were voted into the bottom two.

‘But that meant that in addition to learning their main routine, the couples had to learn all the group dances – and sometimes more – in most cases a dance that was lost.

‘Bosses have reconsidered the plan going forward and couples in the bottom two will now be asked to simply repeat the same dance they performed on the main show.’

MailOnline contacted ITV representatives for a comment.

The news comes after it was revealed that the show has introduced a 24-hour hotline for stars to voice their concerns, following the Strictly Come Dancing bullying scandal.

The ITV show will return to screens in 2025 and sources have now revealed new measures introduced in a bid to prevent bullying or abuse.

According to The sunITV bosses have sent the celebrity line-up a six-page letter telling them they can speak out ‘without fear of abuse’.

In the same vein as the chaperones introduced for Strictly this year, this year’s celebrities will also be assigned a producer to ensure their ‘well-being’.