Suzanne Shaw wins Dancing On Ice

The 26-year-old beat Hollyoaks actor Chris Fountain, who had been favourite to take the title.

She had a rough journey to the final, cracking a rib and chipping an ankle bone during rehearsals for the show.

But judges gave her five perfect sixes - the highest possible score - for her first two routines of the final, before a public vote crowned her champion.

Her first performance of the night, in which she glided around the ice while suspended from the ceiling by wires, moved host Holly Willoughby and professional judge Karen Barber to tears.

A later routine, to Madonna's single Music, prompted judge Jason Gardiner to say: "You are the whole package. You gave a champion performance."

Disbelief

On hearing she had won, Shaw leapt into the arms of skating partner Matt Evers, laughing in disbelief.

Earlier she told host Philip Schofield she had "loved every single second" of the competition, and admitted she had never expected to make the final.

"I just wanted to get half way through the series and I would have been proud of myself for that," she said.

Fountain, who plays Justin Burton on Hollyoaks, had been accused of having an unfair advantage in the competition because he played ice hockey in his teens.

But the actor played down his previous experience.

"I suppose it gave me a general awareness of the ice," he admitted before the final. "But I think I've pushed myself just as hard as everyone else. The difficulty has been tremendous."

Former Coronation Street actress Zaraah Abrahams was knocked out of the competition earlier in the evening after the first round of voting.

"I can't even explain how amazing tonight has been," said Abrahams, who was parachuted in to replace injured GMTV presenter Michael Underwood seven weeks ago.

Underwood himself took to the ice with his leg in cast for the finale, along with other contestants from the series - including Tim Vincent, Sarah Greene and Gareth Gates.

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