Joey Essex shocks fans by confidently tumbling on the Dancing On Ice dance floor with partner Vanessa Bauer – just a day after suffering a nasty injury

Joey Essex left fans shocked when he appeared on Dancing On Ice on Sunday night after hinting that he may have to sit out this week.

The former TOWIE star suffered a nasty injury the previous day and took to Instagram to share a photo of his bandaged leg as he admitted he had “seen better days”.

But after an impressive recovery, he skated with confidence alongside partner Vanessa Bauer as the show’s film week began.

And not only do they have to complete the routine this week, the stars also got a Judges Challenge this week.

During practice, they must perform a freestyle jump with two feet off the ice, with the panel urging them to “get creative.”

First on the ice was The Vivienne, channeling Mary Poppins for the performance with partner Colin Grafton.

And with an impressive 26 out of 40 points, all four judges gave a maximum score of nine.

Oti shared: “You look beautiful, you walked beautifully, love you!”, while Shirley echoed: “I absolutely loved it and I wish you would do it again.”

Next up was Darren Harriett and partner Tippy Packard, who scored 28.5 out of 40 for his Top Gun-inspired performance for Kenny Loggins’ Danger Zone.

Ashley Banjo was the most generous of the judges, earning the TV personality a 7.5 out of 10, while the other three judges each gave a respectable 7.

Shirley noted that he tried the Judges’ Challenge but didn’t quite get it right, explaining, “The jump was pretty small.”

While constructive criticism was offered, Ashley called the performance of Darren, who was in the final two last week, “the cleanest yet”.