Dancing On Ice 2014: Dan Whiston chats about that explosive semi-final – and rates Hayley Tamaddon’s chances against Ray Quinn and Beth Tweddle

Dancing On Ice's professional skater Dan Whiston has had his say on the explosive semi-final, Ray Quinn's shock skate-off and revealed what his and Hayley Tamddon's plans are for the final…

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by Kayleigh Dray |
Published on

Dan Whiston, who is skating with the amazing Hayley Tamaddon in this year's series of Dancing On Ice 2014: All Stars, is the show's ultimate champion - he's lifted the trophy three times during the series. But will he do it again in this weekend's final ever episode of the hit skating series?

After beating show favourite Ray Quinn to the top of the leaderboard, scoring full marks for their amazing routine to Ellie Goulding's I Know That I Love You, the popular skating duo look set to give that trophy their best shot - but is there any jealousy or resentment between contestants?

In Dan's exclusive column with Closer Online, everyone's favourite professional skater has revealed all. And, as ever, it's an amazing read…

WEEK 9: THE SEMI-FINAL

Hayley Tamaddon and I are ECSTATIC that we've made the final. It's the last ever series of Dancing On Ice, so it means a lot to us to be there and competing in the final show - we were so happy when they said we'd made it past that last hurdle.

A lot of people said our routine brought them close to tears - and, it sounds awful, but that's what we really love to do. We just want to tell a story and touch people with our performances - and it was easy for us. It was a beautiful song by Ellie Goulding and we knew there was a great story to be told there.

It was lovely to get full marks, but it was an extra-special moment when Jason Gardiner said it was the best flying routine the show has ever seen. And it means so much, because this is the last show - it can never be topped now!

Nobody is safe…

I was shocked to see Ray Quinn in the skate-off, but it just goes to show that nobody's safe. It's really hard for the lads to fly; they're heavy up there, the girls have to pull them around and it's hard for them to look graceful.

But Ray will pick himself back up and get himself back out there. Obviously he wasn't happy to be in the skate-off, but he handled it well, he skated amazingly with Maria and they made it through to the final.

We were all sad to see Sam Attwater go...

It was tearful backstage - nobody wanted to fall down at this last hurdle, but Sam Attwater went out on a great skate. He's had a really tough time; that's his fifth skate-off - and it's not just hard on your body, it's hard on your heart as well. But he and Vicky worked together, helped each other out and got through it.

Hayley has really blossomed this season…

Hayley has really found herself and found her confidence, which is great. We're going out, giving it our best shot and taking this chance with both hands.

I injured myself really badly in rehearsals...

I had a torn bicep at the beginning of the week. it was really painful and it was touch and go as to whether I'd be in the show at all. Our amazing physio Sharon put me back together, taped me, strapped me up and made last night happen for us. There's further treatment for me this week but we just don't have time for injury - there's so much to do this week. We can't let it get in the way.

Hayley Tamaddon injured her shoulder badly during rehearsals
Hayley Tamaddon injured her shoulder badly during rehearsals

During the week there's a lot of tears, a lot of drama and a lot of injuries. The physio room has never been this busy. She'd be a very, very rich lady if she ever worked on commission!

This week will be tougher than ever before…

This week Hayley has an amazingly tough schedule. She's back and forth on the Coronation Street set, so we're having to open up ice rinks after hours to get our training time in. We haven't got time to be tired, we're running on adrenaline - and there's no time to rest until the champion is named.

We have to put a Bolero together, we have to do a showcase - like a big group number - and we have to do one of our favourite ever routines. We haven't decided yet what our favourite routine will be - but hopefully it will be what the public want to see. If it were Jai Ho or our swing number we did last night we would be so happy!

There's some BIG surprises in store for the final…

There's some big surprises coming your way for Sunday's show that will be VERY exciting to watch. There's a rumour going around, that I can't say, which, if it happens, will look amazingly cool.

The semi-finals

I think it would be interesting to see Jason Gardiner on the ice himself for once. I bet a lot of the old contestants would love to give their opinion on him!

I'm in admiration of every single finalist...

Everyone is so thankful and so happy to be in the final - and, even though there's a lot of work to do, we're all intent on enjoying it. We're going to go out and have an amazing time.

I'm in admiration of every finalist. I won the show with Beth Tweddle last year, so it's very special that she's made the final. She and Hayley are both my girls, I got them both to a title before. And Ray looks great out there and he's a really good mate - and me and his partner Maria have been in this position before.

It's a special moment for me to be in the final with them all again, but the dynamics are different. Someone will have to win - but all three of our celebs are winners in my eyes.

It's the FINAL of Dancing On Ice: All Stars 2014 this Sunday. Make sure you tune in - and don't forget to vote for Dan and Hayley!

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