Dancing On Ice: it's a win for Quinn!

Ray Quinn has been crowned champion of Dancing On Ice 2009, after fighting off competition from Donal McIntyre in the last stage of the final.

The former X Factor finalist turned West End star had been the hottest favourite ever to take the title - and said afterwards he was "absolutely speechless".

"I've been dreaming of this moment since the beginning," he told Philip Schofield, "and the fact that we got it, I'm so proud of it."

Ray and his skating partner Maria Filippov took the title after scoring full marks from the judges for his first two routines earlier in the evening.

As well as a 'flying' routine he also reprised his performance from the 80s themed night, which had won him top marks the first time he performed it.

Both he and Donal McIntyre also had the chance to recreate Torvill and Dean's classic Bolero as their final routine of the night.

"The fact that I got to do the routine with such a wonderful partner like Maria was an absolute privilege," Ray said.

And the judges were also wowed by his performance.

"It's beautiful, but it's a love story and you also captured that...it blows me away," Nicky Slater told him.

Runner-up Donal McIntyre was also thrilled to have had the opportunity to perform the Bolero.

"It's hard to believe I could ever imagine myself getting lost in the dance, but here we are, and it's just mesmerising," he said.

Earlier in the evening Liberty X star Jessica Taylor finished third.

Ray's other final performances had also left the judges spellbound.

"Your transitions from ice to air were perfect," Nicky Slater told him after he had performed his 'flying routine' - which scored him full marks despite him suffering problems with motion sickness during rehearsals.

And his second performance, to Starship's chart-topper Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now, was described as "absolutely magnificent" by Robin Cousins.

"You had extra nuances," he said, "and there were more minute details that we all saw - it was perfect."