Perfect 10s for skating stars

Dancing on Ice, Manchester Arena
THE “Dancing on Ice” tour proved that it is a red hot hit when it arrived in Manchester.

It was packed with daredevil lifts, heart-stopping head bangers (the female skater’s head skims the ice as she is swung by her feet), glamorous costumes and cheeky Chico bum wiggles.

Add to that spectacular professional routines — including effortlessly beautiful duets by Olympic champions Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean — and it was only ever going to score tens across the board.

Taking part in the tour are some of the best celebrity dancers from this year’s series including winner Matthew Wolfenden and runners up Jorgie Porter and the irrepressible “X-Factor” contestant Chico, whose skin-tight, zebra print trousers and rippling muscles got one of the biggest cheers.

The others are 2011 champion Sam Attwater, Sugababe Heidi Range, actress Jennifer Ellison, Olympic skier Chemmy Alcott and “Coronation Street” favourite Andy Whyment, who proves that comedy and charm can be just as crowd pleasing as lifting your partner with one hand.

The first half follows the format of the ITV show with the celebrities and their professional partners performing some of the series’ best routines.

There is lots of banter from the panel of judges — Christopher Biggins, the coach of the show Karen Barber and 2007 winner Kyran Bracken. Cheers and boos are obligatory as they hand out their marks, with the audience voting for their favourites by text.

The second half is a chance to appreciate some wonderful skating skills with performances by the top five couples and professionals who show how it should be done.

The top contestants are chosen to perform their version of the famous “Bolero” routine which proved golden for Torvill and Dean in Sarajevo in 1984.

And it was only fitting that last night the honour of lifting the trophy in front of an electric home crowd went to Manchester girl Jorgie.