Matt Lapinskas scores Ice triumph despite injury
Matt Lapinskas made it to the top of the judges scoreboard on Sunday night's Dancing On Ice 'school disco' themed show - despite a setback in rehearsals in which his partner Brianne Delcourt was injured. The Canadian skater came a cropper just hours before the show when she fell during the routine, fracturing her coccyx. As a result the pair were forced to alter their tricksy routine to 5ive's Slam Dunk Da Funk - but still landed top of the heap with a score of 25.5 from the judges. "You always entertain whatever you're given," Ashley Roberts told him, while Karen said he performed the routine "brilliantly". However Jason Gardiner was the lone voice of dissent when it came to the EastEnders star. "You're not changing it up," he said. "I don't see you out of your comfort zone yet. When are you going to do something different?" Others who fared well on Sunday night included Gareth Thomas - who managed to avoid the bottom two for a second week - gymnast Beth Tweddle and Coronation Street actress Samia Ghadie, who attempted the dreaded 'headbanger' movement as she performed to the Spice Girls' Wannabe. Robin Cousins told them the performance was "fantastic," while Jason added: "I wanted that to be the performance of the night and it was," although he also told Samia: "It could have been a bit more cheeky."
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Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.
An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.