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Dancing On Ice professional skater Hamish Gaman has pulled out of Sunday's show, saying he's been "struggling" over the past few months.

Posting on social media he said the past three-and-a-half months have been the worst of his life.

It's after his celebrity dance partner Caprice quit the show after parting ways with Hamish with no reason given to viewers.

ITV told Radio 1 Newsbeat they had nothing further to add.

Caprice was later paired with skater Oscar Peter.

"Numerous defamatory articles have been stopped from running in the press over the past few weeks," Hamish said.

"These untrue stories are continually being fed to the press by a 'source'."

It's unknown what lead to Caprice and Hamish's split on the show and why Caprice eventually left, but a spokesperson for her said "she's had to keep silent for contractual reasons".

Image copyright ITV

The speculation has lead to Hamish feeling that he "couldn't face it" but hopes it will "all be over soon".

"It's become relentless and I feel extremely vulnerable. I'm asking them to stop," he wrote.

"I desperately want to move on from all of this and focus on the skating. I've done absolutely nothing wrong, and was told by the team who reviewed all the rehearsal footage that I was an 'exemplary pro'."

This year's Dancing On Ice has been featured in the news since it launched after it became the first reality TV show in the UK to pair a same-sex couple together.

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