Dancing On Ice judges Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean defend dance off decision

Dancing On Ice judges Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean have defended their dance off decisions.

Last Sunday saw the eleven remaining couples skate live for a second time, before another went home.

At the end of each routine the judges – Jayne, Christopher, Jason Gardiner and Ashley – gave their comments and marks out of 10 before viewers could vote for their favourite.

The judges scores were then combined with the viewer’s votes before the bottom two couples were revealed as Stephanie Waring and Lemar.

The judging panel chose who to save and who to send home, and it was Stephanie who left Dancing On Ice this week. Both Ashley and Jason saved Stephanie, but Chris and head judge Jayne saved Lemar and so he stayed.

The result proved controversial with viewers, given Lemar actually tripped during his skate off performance.

But speaking on ITV’s Lorraine this week, Torvill & Dean hit back at the viewer complaints.

Torvill said: “It wasn’t a hard decision for us because it is a skating competition and, stumbling aside, Lemar did more skating, and certainly on his own as well.”

Dean agreed: “When you look at the overall picture, Lemar could stand up by himself, he could propel himself, he could skate faster over the ice, forwards and backwards.

“He had a stumble, but when you look at the quality overall it was still greater.

“We’re here to promote the skating side of it, and so we want to see a good skater.”

Stephanie’s Dancing On Ice pro partner Sylvain Longchambon had hit out at the judges following Sunday’s show, saying they got it wrong.

“The rules are if there’s a stumble in the skate off then if the other couple skate well then they should be out. That is the rule of the skate off,” he told The Sun newspaper. “This happened five years ago with Pamela Anderson. She had a stumble and she was voted out.”

Sylvain, who was a pro on the original Dancing On Ice series, added: “They gave Steph better marks on her main routine and he stumbled in the skate off and they chose him over her.

“Maybe his skate off was stronger but it is hard to understand when you have two judges that pick you and other two don’t.”

And Stephanie herself said she was confused by the judges’ decision.

“I’m really sadden that we’ve had to leave so soon, we’ve put a lot of work in. It is what it is,” she said . “I always thought Dancing on Ice, I thought it was all based on that skate-off. I wanted the opportunity to improve on my skate and grow in the competition.

“I was very confused about the trip and yet I’m the one to go home. It’s a lot of hard work down the toilet.”

Dancing On Ice 2018 will continue this Sunday night on ITV