Dancing On Ice’s Ray Quinn talks to Tina Miles about sequins, skating and stardom

AS BROOKSIDE’S little Anthony Murray, he never had an easy time in the Close, but on the ice it is another story for actor Ray Quinn.

Dancing On Ice favourite Ray has proved he really is a master of the skates, after he and his partner, Maria Filippov, wowed judges with their routines.

The 20-year-old, from Childwall, is now preparing for the nail-biting final on Sunday.

The former Gateacre Comprehensive school pupil, who has just been offered the lead part of T-Bird Danny Zuko, in the West End musical, Grease, says: “I love skating and I’ve loved being in the competition. It really is one of the best things I’ve ever done.

“It has been an amazing experience. We started off trying to skate and now, 10 weeks later, we’re learning choreography for the Bolero.

“One of the best things about being on the show is working with Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, and to have Maria as a partner is a bonus. If I could have chosen any partner, it would have been Maria, she is perfect.”

The hard-to-please ice panel have also noted the complementary partnership between Ray and the former Bulgarian ice dance champion, with the pair even scoring a set of perfect sixes from the judges during Week Six.

Away from the ice, it is Ray’s relationship with West End co-star Emma Stephens, 23, that has generated tabloid attention.

The singer, who narrowly lost out on the X Factor crown in 2006 to Leona Lewis, tells us: “Emma’s been coming down to watch me; she’s always there waving her banner. She’s lovely, fantastic and beautiful.

“My family love the show. Even my nan, who is 83, came from Old Swan to watch it, she’s great, I love her.”

Ray split with his girlfriend Kirsty McInerney, 21, in August and started dating Emma, 23, eight weeks later. The couple met while starring together in Grease, where Ray was playing the role of Doody.

So was there any truth in those rumours that Ray went down on one knee and proposed to his girlfriend in the middle of London's trendy nightspot, Movida?

Says Ray: “That was really funny. It was a joke. She was sat on a big chair, it looked like a throne so I bent down and started bowing.

“We had a good laugh about it. We are really happy, but marriage is miles away. At the moment, I’m so busy with Dancing On Ice, then we’ve got the tour, which will be great. We’re doing a show in Manchester, so I will get to come back home to Liverpool. I really miss Liverpool and my family. “

On top of his ice dance success, Ray is delighted to land the lead role in Grease.

He says: “It’s a dream come true. I’ve wanted to perform on stage since I was three years old. I get such a huge buzz from performing live and I loved playing Doody. It’s funny because John Travolta had to play Doody before he was given the part of Danny.”

Ray and the two other finalists, former Liberty X singer Jessica Taylor and investigative reporter Donal MacIntyre, have been strapped into harnesses and attached to wires this week to rehearse their gravity-defying moves.

And, although they are all hoping to fly high in the viewers’ favour, Ray said there was no backstage friction within the group.

He says: “There is always pressure for everybody, whether you are at the top or the bottom of the leader board, but thankfully the public have been voting for me.

“There is a lot of pressure this week because we have been learning three routines, there are lots and lots that could go wrong, but there’s also lots that can go right and hopefully a lot will go right on Sunday.

“We all just want to do our best, and it is down to the viewers to decide who they want to win on the night.”

Ray Quinn will be performing in the Dancing On Ice final to Starship's Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now – the 80s-themed routine that gained him the perfect score of 30 from the five judges.

The programme in week six was a 1980s-themed event to commemorate 25 years since Torvill and Dean’s gold medal-winning perfect 30 at the Winter Olympics.

The finalists will each perform two routines in Sunday’s grand final.

The first will see the skating stars fly, and they will then take to the ice to each perform a favourite routine from the series.

The skating couple with the fewest votes will be eliminated and the remaining two couples will then perform their version of the Bolero.

Ray says: “We’ve been working hard all week. I have a flying number, but I have to keep the music a secret, and the routine to Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now, which is our favourite routine from the past 10 weeks.

“I just love it. I was born in the 80s, it’s a great song.

“The Bolero is a skating challenge, there are a lot of steps and it has to be full of emotion. Hopefully, Liverpool will be voting so I can perform my version of it. I may have danced but I've only ice skated a few times with my mates.

“Ice skating was a new thing for all of us.

"I'm my own competition. I want to be the best I can possibly be.”

Ray’s enthusiasm extends to his sequin-clad suits and his newfound reputation as the housewife’s favourite: “Bring it on.

“It’s all part of the fun.

“I’ve had lots of fan mail from all different people who are supporting me.”

WATCH the Dancing On Ice final at 7pm, on Sunday, March 22, on ITV1.

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