It was no surprise that tonight was Greg Rusedski’s last night on ITV’s Dancing On Ice.

It was ironic however that Greg skated better tonight than he ever has before. He surprisingly showed some grace and finesse, a first for Greg, and even managed to score 20 from the judges.

However it just wasn’t enough, and when he faced Zaraah Abrahams in the skate off he knew he would be saying goodbye.

In true Greg style however, instead of just doing his lap of honour at the end of the show, Greg did the ‘death jump’ over his partner Christina. He really went out with a bang!

Dancing On Ice bosses are said to have spent much of last night trying to keep tennis champ, Greg Rusedski and judge Jason Gardiner apart.

Jason commented earlier in the week that if Greg reached the show’s final he would leave, and lets just say Greg wasn’t to happy with the remarks.

An insider told The Sun: “The tension on the set is unbelivable.

“Greg is furious.

“He doesn’t like Jason’s negativity.”

Dancing On Ice competitors, Greg Rusedski And Gareth Gates, have been struck down by a severe tummy bug. The illness has left them unable to do any real training this week and now they only have three full days in which to learn their new routines.

A show source told The Sun: “The boys are really sick. It’s hard because they’re both competitive and just want to get out there.

“The other stars hope this means they’ve got the edge.”

Dancing on Ice competitor Greg Rusedski has told The Sun today that he is trying to perfect some sexy dance moves behing the scenes, in a bid to keep him in the TV competition.

His secret weapon is his wife Lucy, who is trying to trian him to loosen up those hips, and get some rhythm.

He said: “I’m finding the dancing really hard, but Lucy’s trying to help. She has done theatrical training so it’s second nature to her.

“We stood in front of the mirror at home this morning and she was trying to get me to wiggle my hips more.

“I’m hoping to unleash the inner sexy me!

“Tim Vincent, who survived the skate-off last night, has some good grinding going on. Hopefully, Lucy can help me do that.”

Greg has also enlisted professional help in his bid to be the next Dancing On Ice champion. He has hired choreographer Shay Shay – who has worked with Kylie Minogue, Sugababes and Beyonce – to learn the sexy Latin dance, the Cha Cha.

He says: “It’s the perfect dance to get my hips wiggling.

One of Britain’s most well known and loved tennis players, Greg Rusedski,34,began his training for Dancing On Ice with the diligence
and competitiveness that comes naturally to a sporting professional but admits that this seems to be changing over time.

“In the first few weeks my competitive instincts really came in but then you realise that it’s a voyage for each person to do the best they possibly can. My mindset’s actually totally changed – I’m just going to go out there and enjoy it.The philosophy in the beginning for a competitive person is ‘I want to win, I want to win’ but then your mindset changes because you’re in an arena where you’re practising and seeing 5 and 6 year old kids doing more than I can possibly do on the ice so it really puts things into perspective.”

Greg played ice hockey as a child but says that because he didn’t display a natural talent for the sport he picked up tennis instead.

“It’s quite funny because I used to play ice hockey as a kid but I wasn’t very good, that’s why I picked up tennis. Anyway, when I first met my wife we decided to go skating. I thought I was going to show off to my wife but I hadn’t realised that they had given us figure skates, and I’m used to hockey skates. I said to her ‘look I can skate really well’ and the first thing I did was fall straight over on my face. So that was the last time I skated.”

His skating has improved since then but one thing Greg feels that he’s missing is the gracefulness that is necessary in Dancing On Ice.

“I’m not a very good dancer so I think it’s the elegance that I’m missing and also I’ve got to work on getting my posture right. I’m definitely looking forward to getting out there and performing and trying to get the best score I possibly can. When you’re a sportsman and you’re used to having people watch you and you get the buzz from the crowd, you want to do well, but it’s a big challenge.We’ve all only been doing this for a few months but it’s really good fun. Learning a new skill is great and I think a good talent to have for the future.”

While Greg’s stand out memory of Torvill and Dean is their Bolero performance at the Olympics, the rink itself holds a particular importance to him.

“It was quite funny that the last tournament I ever played was a challenger before the Davis Cup tie in Sarajevo and they held it in the ice rink that Torvill and Dean won their Olympic Gold in. So it’s quite funny that I’m doing this programme now, it’s a little bit of irony and if you’d have asked me a year ago, I never would have expected to be doing this.

“My highlight so far has been skating with Jayne Torvill whilst practicing my routine. How many people can say they’ve skated with Jayne Torvill?”

Although the first time we skated at Lee Valley ice rink Jayne came skating into me like a torpedo and I nearly got knocked over.” Greg’s family have been hugely supportive and he’s excited about his 2 year old daughter Scarlett coming to
watch the show.

“The best thing so far has been when I was training at Slough ice rink and we had the whole rink to ourselves so my little girl and my wife came onto the ice and had a skate.That was lovely.That was a good moment. “My little girl’s going to be my biggest fan. I’ve got her saying the word ice now so she loved it when she came to the practice and saw me and Kristina skating.”

Greg hints that he’s got some celebrity supporters planning to come down to watch as well but for the moment, his eye is not on the prize.

“I’ve got a few friends coming up, I’ve got a few surprises.A lot of friends have said to me they’ll come out and support me so you’ll just have to wait and see. “I’m not that panicked about winning at the moment. Don’t get me wrong, if it happens, it’d be fabulous.The longer you stay in the show I think that’s when you consider it but right now I just want to do the best I possibly
can.”

Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean return ready to put a brand new team of well known names through their paces to prepare them for the ultimate live ice dancing championship.

This year the Dancing On Ice twelve contestants are: Javelin champion Steve Backley, Hollyoaks actor Chris Fountain, pop star Gareth Gates, TV presenter Sarah Greene, Emmerdale actress Linda Lusardi, TV presenter and cleaning guru Aggie Mackenzie, singer Samantha Mumba, TV presenter Natalie Pinkham, tennis star Greg Rusedski, singer and actress Suzanne Shaw, GMTV reporter Michael Underwood, and TV presenter Tim Vincent. Check our site tomorrow for the full celebrity profiles and official Dancing On Ice pictures.

With expectation higher than ever, and performances set to be even more spectacular, our twelve novice skaters have their work cut out to make the grade. Paired with a champion skating partner, and coached by the superstar duo, they will take to the rink, hoping to impress with their glittering costumes, daring moves and slick routines.

Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby preside and each week our resident panel of expert judges will scrutinise every dance, hoping to be increasingly dazzled by the thrill, speed and grace of the live ice performance.

Each week it’s up to the viewers to judge the talent and make the final decision on who should skate on… or off the championship.

11 million viewers tuned in to see ex-England rugby ace Kyran Bracken crowned Dancing On Ice champion 2007 after a nail-biting contest which saw him fight it out against Clare Buckfield and Duncan James, as each performed their own version of Torvill and Dean’s legendary Bolero.

Jayne Torvill said: “It’s fantastic to be back after the success of the first series and we are looking forward to joining a new batch of celebrities on the ice.”

Christopher Dean said: “We have a great mix of stars from the worlds of sport, radio and TV who have the potential to match some of the outstanding talent we saw on the first series.”

With the bar raised, and competitiveness at a peak, how will our new celebrity skaters fare under the spotlight?