It was obvious very early on that he was struggling far, far more than normal. Personally I think it should have been pulled earlier on in the week, either for all of them, to make it level, but for Gareth at least.

What an awful way for Gareth to go out though, he must be so disappointed

I hope it's nothing too serious that the flying brought on quicker than might have been noticed. Not remembering a routine you've just done is very worrying, that's definitely not motion sickness. I agree with the couple of nurses who've posted, he needs to be checked out at hospital ASAP.

Poor Gareth, I really felt for him. It could be an inner ear problem, or even a reaction to the seasick pills he was taking. Even a simple drug like that can have a bad effect on some people. It would explain why he just got worse as the week went on, rather than getting used to the flying as the others had done.

http://www.macmillan.org.uk/Cancerin...ger_6_Anchor_5

I read a comment on Twitter that Gareth has previouly suffered from a minor stroke, so the fact that he had severe headaches and memory loss is very worrying, and no doubt behind the reason for medics pulling him out of the show. He must be gutted, and it's a real shame as he was a very strong skater and I was looking forward to seeing him in the final.

I do hope that Gareth will be OK, and I'm quite shocked at the level of callousness displayed by some posters here.

Thanks for the link. I think that those drugs are different from the ordinary travel sickness pills. I was thinking more of dramamine, and that type of thing.

I just looked at a medical site - dramamine can cause dizziness, drowsiness, nausea and vomiting, which is what Gareth was suffering from.

Me too.

Gareth has clearly pushed his body to the max throughout this series and has shown a level of grit and determination that has been breathtaking at times. For people here to say such incredibly cruel and spiteful things about someone who is taking part in an entertainment show - for their benefit as viewers - says much more about them.

I suspect that there may be more bad news to follow regarding Gareth's health and hope, if this is the case, that some of these same individuals take some time to pause and consider why they felt the need to express their opinion with such bile.

Robin Cousins posted this on Twitter about half an hour after the show finished:

No way of knowing what it was. If he's had a previous stroke related to a bloodvessel issue he could have all sorts of issues with blood supply to the brain, how the blood vessels are now configured, postural hypotension, or blood pressure or blood thinning medication, or something loosened moving around in a blood vessel. Its more likely to be something related to something old rather than something new. Which is why you would hope they have sent him somewhere to have a good look at his bloodflow, head and heart..

Me too, but I think rkid's probably only about 3 years old - I expect he/she will grow up eventually.

47 actually

Not mentally, I fear.

Oh dear someone doesn't agree with my opinions so starts the personal abuse. Maybe you should look closer to home with regards to growing up

I notice those posters have now disappeared from the thread. Shame on them.

I am not blaming Gareth - I'm simply saying that imo he should have taken into account his known reaction to heights and motion before putting himself through what was clearly an extremely distressing experience. Moreover his agent should have scrutinised the contract and asked the relevant questions.

Does this make Gareth blameworthy? No it does not. Does it make him unwise? Yes - as subsequent events proved.

I can understand his hopes that with medication he might stay in control of his condition, but it was very clear throughout the week that no amount of effort would overcome the problem and the coaches should have called in the medics much earlier; certainly before we saw his distressing appearance last night.

I did object to the suggestion that he could perform his 'save me' skate rather than the flying - because the level of the playing field immediately became distorted. Such a 'solution' is akin to an athlete, say a heptathlete/decathlete, competing until the penultimate round and before it takes place a minor injury occurs. The governing body decree "it's not his/her fault so we'll take his/her best performance this season and award points accordingly." With rest and treatment the athlete is able to make the final discipline and ... wins the event!

Would that be fair to the competitors who had performed at every stage of the contest? Hardly.

Clearly Gareth did not ask for the concession and the controversy that the possibility engendered rests purely with the producers.

I think we can say, without fear of contradiction that given a complete performance by all skaters Gareth would have been in the mix for the title; Sadly fate dictated otherwise.

I wish him a speedy recovery

I agree up to a point, I would guess that the majority of the DOI celebs have felt the same when they started flying, but as Jayne (or Chris) said, most overcome the feelings as they start to get used to it, and no doubt everyone - Gareth included - thought he would too.

Regrettably there is no real way of knowing how someone will react until they actually "have a go" and clearly there's something in Gareths's physical makeup that prevented him getting used to the sensation enough to cope with it.

Poor lad - like you I wish him a speedy recovery.

As others have said I really don't think anyone be it he or the production staff could have foreseen how extreme his reaction would be & that it would get worse over time not better so i don't think he was unwise.

Personally i would have been happy to have seen Gareth do 2 skating routines in a skating competition as with all the others - I have always hated they flying & this week's events have only strengthened that view.

The sadness that I and many feel with this is that if tere had ben no flying as with the last 2 series Gareth wouldn't have got ill & would now almost certainly be in the final.

I agree with you

Me too.

Sometimes it gobsmacks me on here - the way some people think and see things and the callous posts that they make.

I hope Gareth is feeling better now and there has been no permanent damage done.

It's such a shame that because of something totally out of his control he lost his most deserved place in the final.

Gareth is a professional sportsman and, more than most of us, understands the effects of injury or illness. He has probably experienced it many times in his career and is philosophical about these things by now. He was my favourite so I am disappointed he is not in the final, but that's the way sport goes sometimes. I hope that he is OK and well enough to perform in any group routines in the final, preferably with skates firmly on the ice.

Ah such a shame. I hope he gets better soon. He was getting better as the weeks went on. I was hoping he would be good enough to get to the final and possibly shake up who would win it.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugb...al/4732442.stm

Gareth suffered a mini stroke after being hit on the head in a game, it also didn't help that he was on the BBC Wales rugby show Scrum V, when he came across extremely badly.
Perhaps these two incidents combined led to the stroke.

Given what happened on Dancing on Ice last night, I think he should have an MRI scan to see if there is any other underlying issue.

I think that in view of his increasingly adverse reactions during the week, his flying act should have been halted a couple of days earlier by the medical advisers. I do wonder if perhaps he could have done two normal, "on the ice skates" but only be given marks out of 5 for the second one. I think that would show more respect for his health and give him a chance to compete in some way. But I understand if others feel that would be unfair. I agree with most posters here, for goodness sake drop the flying! The props are bad enough! Most of us just want to see pure skating.