The competition’s hotting up in Dancing On Ice. It’s still not great – clunkers like Steve Backley and Greg Rusedski remain – but now that Aggie Mackenzie’s gone, the average standard has shot way up. Plus, Holly Willoughby had her ya-yas on show again which should have the Daily Mail choking on its cornflakes.

Greg was out first and, while it was his best performance so far, it still wasn’t good enough. He managed the required spin, did a few jumps on his own, but he still looked unsure and stilted. In fact, the final move – the “unravel” – was dreadful.

Suzanne Shaw actually requested the “headbanger” move. She’s clearly barking mad. Or desperate. She is incredibly good and it was a great programme, but even though it was clearly exciting, it didn’t excite me. I’m not sure why. I think it’s because her desperation shines through. The judges loved it, though, and she got a great score.

In rehearsal, Tim Vincent couldn’t do the solo spin, which is a bit poor at this stage of the competition. He almost managed it, but not quite. The routine was pretty dull and much more about his partner than him. They even had a feeble little sit down section on the edge of the rink. It looked like filler. He got a very, very low score, but he accepted it. Judge Jason Gardiner said the best part of the routine was when they were sitting on the step. Even Karen Barber was disappointed.

Gareth Gates seems incredibly sweet, but he and his partner have had some spectacular falls, which have knocked his confidence. I enjoyed the routine and, again, it made me smile, but it was a bit lacking in content. Also, he doesn’t quite finish his moves – he looks like he’s eager to get on to the next one.

Zaraah Abrahams’ performance was one of my favourites so far. There was a gorgeous lift, but what I liked the most was that it actually had a dramatic ending. Lots of the routines just seem to peter out at the end. The only disconcerting thing was that it looked like her entire backside was on show. (“Dear Daily Mail…”)

Steve Backley only made it through last week because he was up against Aggie (Jason said he wished he could get rid of both of them!). Steve said he really wanted to prove to Jason that he can do an exciting routine, but he didn’t. It was incredibly boring. In fact, commentator Tony Gubba had to resort to describing the tassels on the costumes.

I’d completely forgotten that Linda Lusardi was still in the competition and, after watching her routine, I had to wish she wasn’t. There were a couple of good moves, but she basically looked like she was being dragged around by her partner, Dan. She doesn’t come out of the lifts with any grace and she even missed grabbing his hand. She got a very poor score. Ruthie Henshall said she never feels like Linda skates alone and Linda argued, which was a bit pathetic.

Chris Fountain is so much better than the others, it’s actually kind of embarrassing. But not as embarrassing as Tony Gubba’s commentary: “Dancing On Ice goes grunge! A performance that wouldn’t have been out of place in a warehouse rave.” That aside, it was just so, so good. Chris actually looked better than his partner, Frankie. If you didn’t know, you would have thought he was the professional. Sickeningly good. He’s got everything. As Jason said, emotion and conviction as well as great skating and dancing. They scored 27.

Considering how excited I was by Chris Fountain’s performance, it’s surprisingly that I completely forgot to watch the results show. But I did. By the magic of the internet, I’ve discovered that Steve Backley and Tim Vincent were in the bottom two and Tim went out. Ah well. Chris Fountain to win! And give up “acting” to skate professionally.

Dancing On Ice Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3