By Marcus Barnes


Jennifer Ellison was sent packing in tonight's Dancing On Ice semi-final after failing to impress the judges.

Her departure will be good news to her husband Robbie Tickle who she's promised will 'reap the benefits' of her svelte new figure when she leaves the show.

The actress, 28, had improved immensely on her early performances but still lacked that extra level of skill that would have taken her to the final.

Emotional: The former Brookside star fought back tears after the performance

She left in tears, upset that she couldn't carry on with the show which she said had taught her to believe in herself.

Three celebrities remained in the semi-final after Matthew Wolfenden earlier went straight through to the final when he topped the leader board.

And it was left down to the public vote as to who would face each other in the dance off.

Chico and Jodeyne made it through, and he dropped to his knees when the news was announced.

He had been the show's underdog for much of the series, but finally proved his worth with two great performances on tonight's show.

And so Jennifer and Jorgie had to repeat their dances in the final dance off.

High energy: Jennifer Ellison enjoyed her routine with Daniel Whiston

That meant another Reverse Neck Spin for Jen and another high-risk Headbanger for Jorgie.

The dance was probably better than her first effort and she fought back tears again afterwards, this time however they were tears of joy as everyone agreed it was best dance to date.

Jorgie also managed to pull of her dance a lot better than she had done first time around, even her Headbanger looked better.

Then they faced the judging panel.

Elegant: Jorgie Porter with her dancing partner Matt Evers

Louie saved Jorgie, Robin also saved Jorgie as did Katarina - although all three agreed Jennifer had performed her best dance so far.

Matt Wolfenden had earlier made his way straight into the final with a near-perfect performance in both his routine with Nina Ulanova and his solo dance.

In fact there was just one blip in proceedings when his Headbanger maneuver went awry.

He ended up with 56 points, which put him just half a point ahead of Chico, but meant he was immune from the public vote.

So slick: Matthew Wolfenden was the consumate professional during his dance and topped the leader board

Matthew and partner Nina Ulanova were the last up on the show.

The couple danced to The Way You Make Me Feel by Michael Jackson and featured a few little nods to the late King Of Pop.

They included the dreaded Headbanger in their dance.

It began with the duo flirting with one another, Matt attempting to grab Nina's attention before they launched into the routine.

Oops! Nina struggles to get up from the Headbanger which almost ended in disaster

Matt kept his hips flexing like Michael Jackson throughout, they pull the Angel Of The North lift among others along with a baseball slide and a walkover doughnut.

The Headbanger at the end wasn't quite perfect but it looked good and they avoided disaster.

Katarina awarded the twosome 9.5 while the other two judges gave them 9, giving them 27.5 altogether.

Later on he needed a near-perfect score in the Ultimate Skills Test to top the leader board after Chico had earlier picked up 55.5 points with his two dances.

Lifting spirits: Matt carries Nina during their dance which impressed the judges

And his almost professional dance looked great and he finished to a rousing applause from the studio audience.

All the judges give him 9.5, he topped the leader board with 56 points and won immunity from the public vote.

He said: 'I was terrifying, but what a pleasure to do it.'

Perhaps it was a power nap before the show that helped spur him on.

Celebration: Matt is full of glee as the judges award him big points

The Emmerdale star told his Twitter followers earlier tonight: 'A quick nap before show time! Hope your all gonna tune in later!!! M'

He tweeted an hour later, saying: 'I’m awake now! Thanks so much for all the tweets. Tweet ya later. M x'

First up on tonight's show was the showman Chico, 40, who was no doubt buoyed by last week's high score of 27.

He and his partner Jodeyne Higgins have been given The Flood by Take That as their song.

Christopher Dean says it's powerful and emotive and that he hopes it will subdue Chico's personality which sometimes overrides his performances.

You raise me up: Chico pulls off one of many lifts during his high-scoring routine

Ahead of his time on the ice, Chico said: 'I need to dig deep and present a differet facade.'

The routine finishes with a dangerous banana lift and spin where they're blades are next to each others' faces.

Their smooth, emotional dance involves lots of great transitions including an impressive Monster Lift.

They pull off the banana lift perfectly and end with big smiles on their faces and get 9.5 from each judge, totaling 28.5 leaving him almost speechless.

Show of strength: The former X Factor star lifts partner Jodeyne above his head

'That was by far my favourite routine so far.' he said, before he wished his wife a happy Mother's Day.

Robin Cousins told Chico: 'I said you needed to stop being so generous to the other contestants, to be selfish and contain it and you did. That was brilliant skating, you were controlled and protective of Jodeyne.'

Katarina Witt, added: 'You are non skater, out there and in control. You tell her where to go, it's so strong. I'm amazed, you have no idea how good you are.'

Louie had lots to say about the performance, the highlight of which was: 'For a non-skater, celebrity to do what you're doing is outstanding.'

Muscle man: Chico shows off his winning form

Former Brookside actress Jennifer Ellison followed Chico's highly-rated routine.

Her dance, with partner Daniel Whiston included plenty of lifts including the Arabeqsue Lift and the frightening Reverse Neck Spin.

The couple danced to I Wanna Dance With Somebody by the late Whitney Houston.

The upbeat song had the audience clapping from the off, Jennifer appeared a little unsteady at times, but they worked they way through the routine with plenty of energy.

Emotional: The couple danced to The Flood by Take That which seemed to bring out the best in Chico

Just before the Reverse Neck Spin Jennifer stumbled a little, but they pull it off brilliantly and looked great.

Jennifer fought back tears as the judges gave the duo eight points each resulting in a total of 24.

Katarina told her: 'We always enjoy your performance, you have great chemistry with Daniel. But I didn't see enough improvement, there were great lifts but you did a stumble at the end. In general I wish I would have seen you how you've been improving over the last few weeks.

Louie added: 'You've come so far. After the kick in the head you began to shine. I think Chico's performance has put everyone on edge though. Unfortunately the standards are so high, that the stumble let you down.

Pain in the neck: The actress pulled off the Reverse Neck Spin but stumbled just before she did it which resulted in less points

Robin agreed, but also said: 'You are a brilliant and wonderful performer and we love watching you.'

Jorgie and Matt followed Jennifer and Dan, and they were hoping to step up after their low score last week.

The Headbanger move in their routine has proved to be almost impossible for the Hollyoaks star during rehearsals.

Jorgie and Daniel danced to Shake It Out by Florence & The Machine and their routine was punctuated by lots of small steps, lunges and smooth transitions.

And that's that! Jennifer and Dan end their routine which received the lowest score of the evening

Their dance didn't quite match up to the drama of Florence's song although they interspersed it with some great lunges and a back spiral side by side.

She managed to step in and step out of the Floating Headbanger, becoming the first contestant ever to do so on the show.

Louie gave the duo 9.5 and they got 9 points each from the other judges.

An excited Louie told Jorgie: 'You are so back! What I like about you is that you utilise every piece of the music. Babes you're back, you could go all the way.'

High risk: The duo pulled off the Headbanger move
Katarina added: 'In the afternoon I was worried about the program, it was so full of difficulties. But landing on one foot... what more can you ask for?'

And Robin agreed telling the couple: 'You stuck with a difficult routine and made it happen.'

Speaking about the score she gave the couple, Katarina says: 'I would have given you 10 if it wasn't for the mistake at the end. If somebody walks in and sees you for the first time, no one would know who was the professional out of you two. For me it was almost, almost perfect.'

Angelic: Hollyoaks star Jorgie pulled some elegant moves during her dance

Robin told them: 'You work well together. Only thing you need to watch is your cross behinds and cross overs, make sure they do cross behind and cross over, make sure detail stays in feet as well as in your dancing relationship.'

While Louie enthused: 'Fabulous performance. You really do dance on the ice, it's like you're not on skates. The mistake shows you how difficult the lifts are, but you recovered quickly and it was still a great performance.'

As if their complicated routines weren't enough the celebrities then had to pass the Ultimate Skills Test which is a minute-long solo performance with 23 separate skills, each of which they need to perform in order to get top marks.

Good, but not good enough: Jennifer Ellison at the end of her solo dance

Chico is first and seems to pull it off with relative ease.

He gets 9 from each of the judges, 27 in total and 55.5 overall.

Without a hint of irony the former X Factor star told hosts Phillip Schofield and Christine Bleakley: 'I'm not normally lost for words, but I am today.'

Nervous Jennifer followed, after her emotional dance earlier, she still appeared worried as she started her dance.

Sparkling: Jorgie beams at the end of her Ultimate Skills Test

She set to it, and seemed relatively comfortable but stumbled during the double spin which she also had a few jitters with.

Louie gave her 7.5 while the others awarded her 8 each giving her a grand total of 47.5.

Afterwards, she said: 'One thing this show has taught me is to believe in myself, if I come back next week I will come back fighting.'

Jorgie Porter followed with an almost perfect solo performance, particularly her spin.

She geot 9 from each of the judges and said: 'I'm just so happy with all, I've had a really good week this week. Whatever happens, happens.'




source:dailymail