Matthew Wolfenden wins Dancing on Ice

Emmerdale actor Matthew Wolfenden has won the seven series of ITV‘s Dancing on Ice.

The soap actor was crowned the winner in last night’s grand finale on ITV1 in which he went up against Hollyoaks actress Jorgie Porter and X Factor hopeful Chico. In last week’s semi-final tabloid favourite Jennifer Ellison was voted off Dancing on Ice which came as something of a surprise. Across the past week Matthew Wolfenden emerged as the new bookies favourite to win though there was a line of thought that Chico could have stolen the competition from him at the last minute.

As it turned out Chico came third after picking up the fewest votes from the audience with Jorgie Porter coming second. The seventh series of Dancing on Ice has been seen lower ratings than previous years which is in part due to tough competition from BBC One in the form of hit dramas Call the Midwife and Sherlock. However, the show’s new line-up of judges, with Louie Spence and Katarina Witt joining, has come under criticism from some viewers.

Previous champions of Dancing on Ice include last year’s winner Sam Attwater and Hayley Tamaddon, Ray Quinn and Suzanne Shaw. In fact it was only the second season in 2007, when Kyran Bracken won, that a soap star has not won the series. Suzanne Shaw won the competition in 2008 and later joined Emmerdale though at the time she was best known for her time in the short-lived pop group Hear Say.