Kyran. He was another one who was overrated. Clare should have won that series.

I think Ray Quinn has been the best to date, but Matt is a close second, I don't get the antagonism towards him and he did put much more into his performances than Beth.

The judges showing their preference for him didn't do him any favours but he'll be pleased and will get a place on the tour.

Ray and Maria were wonderful, the complete package. Musicality, technique, performance and likeability. Matt and Brianne were nowhere near.

I've just watched the clip of Ray and Maria skating to Rock Around the Clock and it probably is the best ever routine on the show. He is so good that its hard to tell who is the celeb and who is the pro, when he does the proper ballroom jive kicks and flicks on ice I am just

He was fantastic - I really looked forward to him every week. However, even Ray didn't manage the drill spin that Chris Fountain gave us in his Cry Me A River routine. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAH7H9Az6mU (unfortunately you have to watch the into before you get to the routine)

No one's ever attempted it since as far as I can remember.

Re Matt - I enjoyed watching him. He was a better performer than Beth, but I enjoyed her gymnastic ability as much as I enjoyed his performance ability.

I will add my vote for ray , totally another class

Ray Quinn was definitely the best ever, a sheer joy to watch.

I'm a Ray fan too. When I first saw him, I'd no idea who he was and I was sure I would not like him. But his skating and his humility won me over. He would always nod thanks to the voters.
I may just have missed it, but all through this series, I think it was only Cheggers who said thanks to the fans when he got through each week, you know, the little nod and thanks.
It seems all the others kind of expect it.
But in previuos shows, most nod a thanks to the voters.
Oh well, not a classic this series, no matter how much the judges try to tell us

I couldn't stand Ray Quinn at any price at all but he was a way better skater than Matt.

Utter bollocks that Matt is the best skater they have ever had.

Ray and Chris will always be my favourite celeb skaters. They were so different and yet both so incredible. Ray had the grace and poise with such clean skating. Chris wowed me with his jumps, spins and great footwork. Special mentions for Suzanne and Clare who dazzled us with their skills, when the girls actually did a lot of skating.

I don't know if it's nostalgia or if I'm just getting weary of the format and the biased championing of one contestant over the others. I'm glad Beth won but it still feels flat for me.

I didn't like all of the rewriting of DOI history over the past couple of weeks - Matt wasn't the best male 'flyer' they've ever had, Ray Quinn and Chris Fountain were better; Matt wasn't the best male skater they've ever had, Ray, Chris and Matt W were better, and if Matt and Brianne had an amazing chemistry, it didn't come over on my TV screen.

To me Matthew Wolfenden was the best but Ray was also very good. Matt ah I weren't keen I did prefer Gareth

Reading all these posts has me yearning for the good old days when I was excited to see the likes of Claire, Kieran, Chris and Ray perform. This years lot didn't do it for me. Maybe next year will be better.

Totally agree. My personal top 3 are Ray, Chris and Suzanne. All of them in different ways just fantastic.

For me, Ray Quinn was in a different league to any other skater in any series. Unlike other series, him winning was completely expected, He was so much better than anybody else.Thank you to the person that posted the clip of him
skating. It was a joy to see again. He was amazing.

I thought Matt deserved to win tonight though.

As a winner though he had more strength and a journey story that Matt didn't have any of , Kyran also, like Chris and Bonnie, went on to demonstrate skills afterwards (in his case jumps and spins) that he hadn't got near showing on the show but had the ability to do. I agree Clare should still have won on what she did though, and she could do more than allowed to too.

Can I even add that I believe that Jessica Taylor was even technically better that Matt

Its bizarre because SCD is doing it too. Every series now everything is claimed to be better, but you sit there and think no it isn't - Rachel, Jill, Kara, Ali, Ricky and Colin were all better. You can see why they can't say you are good but not as good as Ray, Suzanne, Clare or Chris, but the hype approach instead is just obviously untrue.

This is whats putting me off shows like this as I can tell its not the best but try and watch its just hoping it will get better. But when they are trying to shove it down my throat that its the best all the time it does my head in.

Do they not understand that we are adults and can make our own minds up without them acting like they need to tell us what it is.

Matt Wolfenden and Hayley Tammadon the best for me.

I've been waiting every week for them to at least do a jump. Did I miss skills week this year or did they have to abandon it because no one could do it. To give him his credit - Luke did at least try to do a jump and a bit of a spin. It was slow and a bit unsteady but at least he did it. Matt was good on performance - but didn't have that many technical skills.

Half way through the series in previous years they were all doing little jumps - and some - Ray and Chris were doing amazing jumps really early on.

Best ever - I think not

I would say they was easy 12 people more technically better than Matt from the whole set of seasons

Another example of Ray's skill:

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=2j0eL...%3D2j0eLzOevk4

Beth did solo 1 footed spins & a jump as well. Matt didn't attempt those

Just been watching old skates on Youtube of Ray and Chris and Matt Wolfendon - they were all way better than Matt Lapinskas even in week 1!

Well done to Beth for her improvement from when she started to winning the final - despite all the harsh comments along the way