This has been posted on Facebook:
"Gareth Thomas was suffering from severe motion sickness which got progressively worse throughout the week. He was deemed unfit to skate on last night's Dancing on Ice: The Skate Off and was withdrawn from the competition. Gareth says he is feeling much better and is looking forward to getting back on the ice for the returning skaters' performance this Sunday. "

He would have been in the final if they had not decided to bring back flying for the semi, instead of Luke.

So if he is feeling much better now, then shouldn't they have taken this into account and put all 4 into the final and given him the opportunity to see how he went.

How would it be fair to have someone in the final who didn't do all the required elements last night?

Seems to the Luke dislikers anything is fair as long as they get Luke out. Luke turned up and did what was required of him to the best of his ability and yet some would prefer grossly unfairly having someone else in the final who didn't.

I really don't get the dislike people have for Luke I think he is a absolute great performer and skater who has an amazing chemistry/partnership with Jenna and the judges are especially harsh towards him.

I would hope that they have had a proper look at him Progressively worsening motion sickness, faintness and loss of memory could be multiple issues- and I wouldn't let anyone below the level of consultant, after multiple tests, tell me that was all it was - particularly if i had had past problems that might be related.

I'm far from a Luke fan but let's give the guy a break, its not his fault that Gareth isn't in the final! As much as I hate what happened, it wouldn't have been fair to the other contestants to give Gareth a free pass into the final, and keeping all 4 in would have messed up the schedule for next week.

I have just read Philip's explanation.
Not watching This Morning as I work but how the heck is Kerry Katona This Morning's resident DOI spokesperson?

Could they really not find anyone else?

Glad to hear Gareth is on the mend.

Gareth said on twitter he was seeing the Doctor tomorrow so hope it's good news

Being Welsh and plus the fact he is a great skater, I would have loved to have seen Gareth in the final.

That said I agree with the decision the ITV made.

He couldn't compete because he was ill.

I don't understand why people are discussing this.

With respect you seem to be rather paranoid about any comments relating to Luke! Most of the negative comments refer to the fact that he is simply not a good skater. True his rather immature and petulant remarks to the judges haven't helped but leaving that aside he hasn't reached the standard of Matt, Beth and Gareth. He is only in the final because Gareth withdrew on the orders of the medical team.

Arguably. We don't know who was in the skate off with Gareth; it could have been Matt. I highly doubt it was Beth.

I agree. Luke's skating has been no worse or better than Gareths.
People don't like Luke because he questions idiotic comments instead of standing grinning like a Cheshire cat and taking it when Jason spews his venom.
The flying looked daft anyway in my opinion, even when Matt did it and he was quite good at it.
It is a shame that Gareth has gone out because of it's inclusion. But personally I like seeing Luke and his partner in the final.

I think we can all agree that Luke was the weakest skater of the four. But Gareth being ill is not his fault. Should gareth have been given a free pass into the final due to illness? Not at this stage. Perhaps much earlier in the competition. As to the flying. I don't know why it's in the competition. It has naught to do with dancing on ice.

Yeah and lets get Joe back to see if his skating has improved and lets get Pammy back see if you can skate without slipping and..... well the list goes on and I think you get the picture, He failed a task therefore he's out!

I can't believe ( after watching him in training ) through the week, they were even contemplating him flying!! The guy looked so so ill with it all.

His routine on Sunday night was not like the usual Gareth. It was obvious for all to see he wasn't at all well and perhaps should have been given a 'by' to the final. It's maybe not fair on the others, but he has been great throughout the series and he was most definitely a contender for to win.

Such a shame this happened to him, hope he makes a full recovery

Same reason you are. We find it interesting.

Each year when there is flying, the celebs experience motion sickness at first, and as Jayne explained, it normally improves during the week once they've got used to it. They presumably thought it would happen with Gareth too, and may even have reduced the spinning bits of the aerial work, hoping it would help.

Luke was the weakest skater, but it's hardly his fault, and he's not one of those dreadful skaters that fluked their way into the latter stages of the competition, so it's hardly a disaster. He can skate and apart from being a bit petulant, he's applied himself to improving, and not been appealing for sympathy votes or playing for laughs.

Good luck to him for next week, and good luck to Gareth with the tests.

At least Luke got through to where he has on merit rather than people like Coleen Nolan who got to the same stage just because she is a "Loose Woman". She makes Luke look like Chris Dean on the ice.

Glad to hear that Gareth is seeing a doctor. He definitely needs to get checked out with the kind of problems he was having, especially as he has previously had a stroke.

Woah really?

I assumed that the bad headaches and stuff were a side-effect of poor blood flow from having been knocked about on a rugby pitch for years, but I didn't realise he'd already had a stroke. In which case it's absolutely imperative, rather than just sensible, that he take care of his internal functions and not risk them for some crappy TV show.

There have been several threads where this is not the case, where Luke has been called 'vile' and 'disgusting'; where a poster expressed 'concern' that he had young children and another seriously suggested his skating partner would need therapy, without even the pathetic figleaf of a LOL. Plus we do not know as a matter of actual fact that we would have been in the skate-off.

I know there have been a few unpleasant comments but they have been the minority hence my Most of the negative comments...
I agree we don't yet know whether Luke would have been in the skate off but given he was the previous week I'm pretty certain he would have been as he is surely the weakest skater . After all at this stage of the competition the silly voting we see at the start doesn't happen.

Are there specific things that we're only allowed to discuss??? Someone posted what they'd seen elsewhere saying Gareth had withdrawn due to motion sickness and that he was feeling much better, so people comment about the OP and others comment on that and on other comments they've read. I really don't understand whey you even made that comment, more especially as you chose to comment in this thread yourself People can discuss the colour of someone's shoes if they wish!

It probably was Beth and that is why it was not revealed. She would have been voted off against Gareth.