Jason Gardiner has revealed how he spent three months living in a tent while building eco-friendly houses for refugees after leaving “toxic” Dancing On Ice.
The former DOI judge left the ITV skating show in 2019 and has since found a love for the environment and the outdoors after the pandemic made him rethink his lifestyle.
After Jason’s solo theatre show was cancelled in 2020, a neighbour offered to let him help her on her allotment, which he said brought “excitement back in my life”.
From there, he left London and started building eco houses for refugees while living in a tent.
He now teaches Portuguese landowners how to get the best from their lot.
Discussing his newfound “love of the environment... growing things and wanting to share that”, Jason told the Irish Mirror: “My tenure on Dancing On Ice was always marred with controversy and lots of issues but the problem is, I didn’t realise how toxic it was until I left.
“It took me a while to decompress from it, I’ll be honest.”
He continued: “Then I would wake up at 6am, do my yoga outside, go for a walk and that’s when I realised I’m living an amazing experience right here. Slowly but surely I began to realise I was so much better because I wasn’t stressed.
“That’s the other thing permaculture teaches you – what is a good use of your time and energy.”
Jason decided to walk away from Dancing on Ice following his infamous clash with contestant Gemma Collins on the 2019 series.
The pair traded a number of blows with the TOWIE star accusing the judge of selling stories on her during her critique on one of the live shows, after which Jason consulted his lawyers.
He sensationally quit the show later in the year after he claimed to have found out TV bosses were planning to replace him.