Dancing On Ice star Amy Tinkler says painful SPLIT from boyfriend days before Valentine's performance may have been reason for early elimination

She was eliminated from the ITV competition following a shock skate-off last week.

And Dancing On Ice star Amy Tinkler has revealed that her recent painful split from boyfriend Max Cinnamon just days before her Valentine's performance may have contributed to her early exit.

The Olympic athlete, 21, told how she couldn't face giving publicity-boosting media interviews in the run-up to her love story based routine as her break-up was too raw. 

Speaking following her shock exit last weekend, Amy suggested that her lack of publicity that week may have hindered her from getting votes from viewers. 

She told The Sun: 'I was voted out by the public, and that's the way these shows go. But the reason we decided not to do Press was because it was Valentine's Week, love week, on the show... and I had just split with my boyfriend.

'I just knew interviews would ask me about Max and it would be so difficult to talk about that. If there were going to be headlines, I didn't want it to be 'Amy Tinkler's split with her boyfriend', I wanted it to be about the show.

'I just didn't think it was right on both sides to publicly discuss it, especially that week.'

The gymnast went on to say of her split that she and Max both 'saw it coming' as they struggled to spend time together amid Covid-19 restrictions and her training for the skating show.

Rules stated that contestants were not permitted to mix with households outside their bubbles, with Amy admitting it had been a while since she had seen Max.  

Explaining the main reason for their split, she added that they were at 'different points' in their lives and wanted 'very different things' from their relationship. 

She went on to wish him all the best and added that they were not 'meant to be', before insisting that on reflection, DOI didn't have 'too much' to do with the breakdown of their romance. 

MailOnline have contacted representatives of Amy for comment. 

Amy's split makes her the tenth celebrity to be hit by the alleged Dancing On Ice 'curse'. 

Much has been made of the Strictly curse, but the skate show has also seen its fair share of romances crack under the pressure.

Romances affected  include Love Island's Maura Higgins and Curtis Pritchard, who broke up last year after rowing over her friendship and 'closeness' with Dancing On Ice partner Alexander Demetriou.

Alexander subsequently who went on to split from his wife Carlotta Edwards over his closeness to Maura. 

While Love Island's Wes Nelson and Megan Barton Hanson called it quits shortly after Megan slammed Wes' DOI partner Vanessa Bauer and claimed she had orchestrated her own break-up with ex Louis Nathaniel in a bid to generate headlines ahead of their skating debut. 

It comes as Amy, who made her ice debut last Sunday alongside pro Joe Johnson,  was axed from the show after the four judges unanimously chose to save rapper Lady Leshurr. 

Asked how her time on the show was, Amy, who was drafted in to replace Denise Van Outen, was in tears as she shared: 'I've had the best time and I'm so thankful to have met Joe.'

Whilst Joe reassured her of their friendship: 'Nothing's over.'