A fall during the skate-off put paid to the chances of rugby player Ellery Hanley in Dancing on Ice as he became the latest celebrity to leave the show.

The former rugby league star lost out to Melinda Messenger during last night's '80s-themed edition after both found themselves in the bottom two.

Hanley, 47, thanked his professional skating partner Frankie Poultney, saying they would remain "friends forever".

He also praised his skate-off opponent, the remaining competitors and mentors Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean.

He described Messenger's 99 Red Balloons routine as "wonderful" and "magnificent".

"I would like to say thank you to everybody, all my competitors," he added. "Every one of those deserve their spot."

Hanley skated to the Dexys Midnight Runners classic Come On Eileen.

But in his second performance of the evening on the ITV1 reality show, he tripped on the ice.

Hanley, who found himself skating to stay in the show for a third time in the series, told presenter Phillip Schofield he was disappointed he fell but said he was pleased with how he recovered.

Four of the five judges voted to save Messenger after the two battled it out to stay in the competition.

Singer Ray Quinn earlier wowed the judges, scoring full marks for his skate to Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now by Starship.

Judge Robin Cousins told him: "You were flawless. There was not one wrong edge in the whole performance. Add to that your charisma and you have truly deserved the first memorable score of the series."