DANCING on Ice viewers were left in shock as Claire Sweeney became the next star to be voted out of the competition.

The star failed to survive after the judges opted to keep Lou Sanders in the contest instead.

Both Lou and Claire were forced to take part in the dreaded skate-off in order to keep their place in the contest.

It marked the second time that comedian Lou had taken part in the skate-off

Lou and partner Brendyn danced to the Pink track Try while Corrie star Claire and her pro skater Colin performed an up-tempo routine to Take That hit Relight My Fire.

Ashley Banjo, Oti Mabuse and Christopher Dean all opted to save Lou over Claire in the tense result.

Jayne Torvill was not required to vote as a result of Chris being head judge.

Reacting in fury that the soap star had been axed from the contest, one fan said: “Nooo wrong decision! Lou looks miserable as if she doesn’t want to be there!”

Another added: “I’ve no idea what the judges just watched, I saw one girl who couldn’t give a toss & another girl who put her all & more into the performance.”

Before someone else penned: “NOOOO NOT CLAIRE.”

One fan suggested the result as “a fix” as they said: “That was a ridiculous fix/rig result for Lou.”

Elsewhere on the programme, some fans were left unhappy with the show’s judges for repeatedly “over-marking” stars.

Up first was BBC Radio 1 star Adele Roberts who has continually impressed the panel with her moves and has found herself comfortably near the top of the leaderboard since the start.

Performing a Charleston, she received rapturous applause but fans were quickly left dismayed at the repeated “over-scoring” of contestants.

One viewer said: “I love Adele as a person but she has been over marked this week. She was flailing all around the ice there and very shaky indeed.”

Also on the show, former Coronation Street star Ryan Thomas was involved in a scary tumble when he dropped dance partner Amani.

Ryan and Amani’s terrifying fall came just 24 hours before they were due live on the ITV contest and the moment was all caught on camera.

During preparations for the steamy routine, Ryan became unsteady on his feet and he and Amani crashed to the ice at one of the show’s most crucial points.

Checking in that she was okay, the former Coronation Street actor was visibly shocked at what had happened.

He said to Amani: “I’m so sorry.”

Ahead of tonight’s show, The Sun revealed how Ricky Norwood had been involved in an argument with his pro partner, Annette.

The pair’s fallout came after Ricky became annoyed at Annette’s treatment of him when he was struggling with his posture.

A source told The Sun: “He felt that Annette was treating him like a kid and was clearly frustrated at her lack of patience.

“Ricky stormed off the ice and threw his skates off in a rage while shouting ‘I’m done’ and ‘f**k this’.

“Annette is a perfectionist and wants to shine on the show, given that it is her first series.”