Explains what Kolin?

I am not especially a Matt fan, I just think he skated better.

and BTW I am extremely sorry about Gareth and wish him a speedy recovery.

got to be said but funny the queen and gareth are ill on the same day .

Because he's gay? Oh! Ha Ha (not)

After the footage of Gareth's not being well when trying to the Flying routine im surprised he come out and did he one only Skate very well given the Circumsatnces(sp), im also surprised that doctors told that he would be alright to the skate known he may or may not remember the Rountine

Thanks, I must have miss understood, I thought because he was in SO tonight and not fit to perform in the SO he was out of the competition, which didn't seem fair.

I agree Gareth did not look well at all, I hope he his feeling better soon!

What a stupid comment!

I am not a Matt fan - but I do have the ability to recognise he is the best skater - and in a skating competition I am a fan of the best skater.

How you have the nerve to make sarky comments about others being positively biased when you are so clearly negatively biased is so laughable.

I suggest you are the one with a very fragile sense of reality.

Yes I wish one of them a speedy recovery.

Gareth that is!

Not entirely. I thought they meant that he had withdrawn from the show as he would not be able to skate again for the foreseeable future, not just for the SO. So his inability to skate off tonight did not mean he was automatically elimnated, he withdrew from the rest of the series on medical grounds.

Same here, I'm no one's fan, I never invest in any of them in any series enough to want any of them to win/lose or to vote, but from a completely objective perspective I don't see the 'arrogance' in Matt that others see, I just see over-confidence (and that is NOT the same thing as arrogance) and a good skater. I also think Beth's a good skater. Either of them are good enough to win. Gareth was strong too. Luke, not so much. That's my opinion as a neutral viewer. I don't have an agenda and I neither like nor dislike any of them.

Gareth clearly has an underlying problem that goes beyond motion sickness. My bet is a mixture between neurological left-overs from his stroke and/or an inner ear disease which he may now have triggered so severely with the flying he will always be prone to attacks in the future. Whatever the truth his health comes first.

But all this talk of conspiracies - imo it's complete nonsense. As a dispassionate observer, taking a huge step back from investing any kind of emotion in it (my profession may help in that - it's second nature) the only discordant note has been Samia being voted through each week on very little in the way of skating skill until she was voted off at last in her s/o, which was the only way of her being confronted with the reality that she wasn't anywhere near the others.

I'm sorry Gareth has had to leave in this way, and it could have been handled better, but this is commercial television and their hands are tied by the format of the show until after the event.

I am with you regarding Matt and this so called arrogance I too think it is confidence. I enjoy his routines usually but the one thought that always comes to mind is that he is quite heavy looking and doesn't skate gracefully.
In my opinion, Gareth as a tall skater was a graceful skater and I found him easier to watch.

I have liked some of Beth's routines, her gymnastics obviously stands her in good stead but I do agree with Jason when he says no connection. I think this has to do with her not wanting to look silly and also because her Gymnastics will be so regimented, DOI requires her to let her self go and she looks like she has real difficulty with this.

Luke to me is the weakest of those who skated tonight. I don't see any personality in his skating, the only routine where there was a spark was his props routine.

I am very sorry to see Gareth go but his health has to come first. I don't see how they could have dealt with it in any other way. Gareth probably didn't want to withdraw, medical or insurance people may well have had the last say and for all we know calls could have been going to a fro from when Gareth left the ice.

Do we know when he saw a doctor? I know they have a medical team but if that includes an actual doctor did the doctor know he'd previously had a stroke? At the time they may have just thought it was motion sickness, that's the way it seemed at the beginning of the show.

In this Health and Safety conscious day-of-age I'd be stunned if they weren't aware of his stroke.

I was just wondering if there was a doctor on the team that knew really. If so then you'd think they would've thought it may be more than just motion sickness that Gareth was suffering.

It could be for much of the week it was simply sickness; if Luke was suffering the same thing it was presumably very easy to dismiss. Then he had issues with his memory and he wasn't showing the usual signs of recovery (the dress rehearsal must have been a couple of hours before the show yet he wasn't right for his first skate) which completely threw them into a panic.

I agree with you

I'm not a fan as it were of any of them ,but i do think that Matt is the best skater and as such should win

While Beth is also good i agree with Jason that there is no connection but i put that down to her Gymnastics where they have to focus and remain straight faced while performing

Luke of course is the weakest skater left so would fully expect him to go 1st next week and if not for Gareth falling ill he most probably wouldn't have been in the final

Hope Gareth gets well soon and he isn't suffering from anything to serious

Bit of overkill about that Gareth.

Completely agree. He is a very good skater and some of his routines have been breathtaking.

I haven't read all the posts in this thread regarding the medics' ruling that Gareth was unfit to perform in the skate off so I don't know if someone has already commented on this, but when they were talking in what should have been Gareth's flying spot Robin said that he couldn't remember having skated earlier in the evening. Gareth was obviously ill when he came off the ice - he was blinking as soon as he stopped skating, and continued to keep blinking when he was standing for the judges' comments. I'm just pleased Phil/the producers spotted Gareth clearly wasn't well so quickly and took action to get him off the stage.
Here's wishing him a full recovery, though it will probably take several days.

I've finally caught up with what's happened...I am so gutted for Gareth.

He was one of my favorites to win, so I don't really care who wins now.

Just tried to claim my refund, but apparently if you're not with BT, you have to wait up to 28 days for someone to contact you by phone.

I say Stuff it for what, £1? But everyone thinking that is what they are banking on isn't it?

I am gutted Gareth is out of the competition but his health comes first and wish him well. Have there been any updates on how he is doing? Of the three left I'm not bothered who wins, Luke is the weakest and of the other two Matt is the better actor (well he should be!) and Beth is very graceful skating wise they are both OK. I was hoping for Gareth to shine in the final but just want him to be well.

Can't edit the post above re Gareth but there is an update on Gareth on this thread http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1804128