Dancing On Ice: Gemma hangs up her skates

Actress Gemma Bissix has become the second casualty in the 2009 series of Dancing On Ice, after losing out to Melinda Messenger in the skate-off. The former EastEnders star - a self-confessed huge fan of the ITV1 show - found herself in the skate-off with partner Andrei Lipanov after failing to impress the judges with her performance, to Celine Dion's The Power Of Love. Although the panel agreed that both gave better performances in the skate-off, they voted unanimously to save Melinda. "You both did yourself proud," Karen Barber told the pair, "that second performance was so much better." Nicky Slater, meanwhile, saved Melinda after describing her performane as "sparkling", while Ruthie said she was "cute as a button"- but Jason Gardiner was less kind. "Do I save cardboard cut out one, or cardboard cut out two?" he asked. But ultimately he too voted to save Melinda. Afterwards, Gemma admitted that she was "gutted". "I just wanted to do another routine, I've done seven weeks training and I'd never stepped on the ice before so to do that I'm just incredibly proud of myself," she said. "And Andrei has been the most amazing partner, no offence to the others but I wouldn't have anyone else The remaining 11 skaters will all perform on next Sunday's show after separate performances from the men and women in the past two weeks.