Dancing On Ice’s Dan Whiston says Kimberly Wyatt struggled with chest infection

We're officially halfway through Dancing On Ice and the stakes have never been higher as there's no telling who will make it to the top after Liberty Poole's shock exit from the show following her fall in the rink.

Bez and Regan Gascoigne both suffered a few stumbles and tumbles during their performances too, while Connor Ball shared his fear of going back on the ice after splitting his chin and suffering a shoulder injury.

Now OK!'s columnist, Associate Creative Director Dan Whiston, has given us the insider scoop on each contestant's routine and shared his thoughts on who might come out on top.

"The standard is so high this year that good people will be going every week from now on," he shared. "It could go to anyone in the show. The top three could be anybody's and I mean anybody's."

Dan told OK! that the stress levels are also "through the roof" as the routines are getting harder and the time scale is so short. He said: "There's been tears. It's almost like a pressure pot and the pressure is on now."

With Liberty's exit, currently Regan and Kimberly Wyatt are in joint first place, despite both stars struggling with setbacks. Here's what Dan had to say…

KIMBERLY'S CHEST INFECTION

I think Kimberly did fantastic, she put on a great performance to watch. Obviously she had a rough week because she had a chest infection. She was really poorly this week, she really struggled.

There were times when she had to sit down in between sessions and get her breath. When you're training like that with a chest infection, it's really difficult. However, she is a performer, she is so dedicated to what she's doing. She's taking it so seriously, which is wonderful to see. I thought the routine was fantastic.

She managed to keep it under control with the medical team. But she just had to take breaks. No rehearsal to miss, but it does knock you when you're out of breath in the routine. The struggle is real. You've only got five days to turn the routine. Actually a chest infection can really pull you back, but she didn't let it.

CONNOR'S CONFIDENCE KNOCK

One of the things we really have to work on with Connor is facial expressions and performance on the top half of his body. Connor's feet do amazing things and in fact technically he's probably one of the strongest on the show. If he can master that, he'll be one to watch for.

I think once when you've had an injury like that it does knock your confidence. He fell just minutes before going on live and obviously he split his chin, there was blood everywhere. It does knock the confidence of not just him but people around him, it knocked their confidence too as they saw the blood and the panic.

But I must say Connor has balls of steel. He went out under those circumstances and for me – my hat goes off to him. That shows how much courage he's got. He also has a shoulder injury, but he won't let it get him down. I feel like there's good things to come from Connor.

HEART OF THE SHOW

I feel like Bez and Sally are the heart of the show. They don't have any dance background and they're doing their best. I think the public really warmed to them and that's why they're still there. They 100 per cent deserve to be where they are.

Bez is getting better and he wants to get better, but I know it's a bit frustrating because he took a bit of a stumble last night and he will be frustrated with that. He's taking it seriously, so is Sally. They want to improve. They want to get better. I really do admire that about them. They're bringing a lot of heart to the show. They're like every day people, going out there and doing their best.

LIBERTY'S FALL

We're all really sad to see her go because she has the most incredible energy. Her and Joe together are a great team. When we work with her we just smile all the way through. She's so natural and she tried really hard. We're really sorry to see her go. Someone has to go every week and unfortunately it was just Libby's time.

I saw her after the show and I said she should be proud of her skate off because she did a clean performance and went out on a bang. There was nothing to be upset about performance-side because it was really good.

She had a lot of support around her but she was upset to go, she was really sad. Unfortunately, good people will be going every week.

UNDERDOG WILL TAKE THE TROPHY

I feel like Stef came through the ranks last night, for me she skated the best she's ever skated. She got a lot of people emotional because she's so invested in it, she's so great. For me, she entered top three last night, which completely changed the leader board.

It could be the underdog that takes the trophy in the end. Stef could absolutely be the underdog. Connor has obviously been plagued recently, but once he gets that all under control, he could be the underdog.

For all your Dancing On Ice goss, sign up to OK!'s daily newsletter here, and check out Dan's column every Monday

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