Puppet on a String! Saara Aalto avoids skate-off on “Dancing on Ice”

She lived to tell the tale on last week’s show and Saara Aalto got a fairytale ending on Sunday night as Dancing on Ice entered its fifth week.

Discussing the difficult night with her skating partner Hamish Gaman on the morning after she almost left, she had mixed emotions. From getting her highest score of the series to the moment they found themselves in the skate-off, it’s been a rocky road. “This just shows that anything can happen”, she said.

This weekend’s Judges’ Challenge consists of three parts: a stop, a lunge and a pivot. The celebrities could perform them in any order, but they all had to be included in their routines. As it was fairytales week, Saara and Hamish opted for a Pinocchio theme. And continuing the puppet theme, the duo skated to a Eurovision classic: Sandie Shaw’s 1967 UK entry “Puppet on a String”.

Once again, the Ice Panel were impressed and the performance felt more douze points than nul points. Saara became the first celebrity of the series to receive a 9 courtesy of Jason. Both Ashley and Jayne awarded an 8 with an 8.5 from Christopher. With a total score of 33.5 Saara managed to finish third overall despite sustaining a head injury.

It was then up to the voting public to make their minds up and that was enough to ensure Saara avoided the dreaded skate-off and advanced through to the next stage of the competition. Phew!

A 9 from Jason! No strings can hold @SaaraAalto and @HamishGaman down #DancingOnIce pic.twitter.com/2VZUD6NX9t

— Dancing On Ice (@dancingonice) February 3, 2019

Dancing on Ice 2019 – Judges’ scores (Week 5)

1. James Jordan and Alexandra Schauman – 36.5
2. Wes Nelson and Vanessa Bauer – 34.0
3. Saara Aalto and Hamish Gaman – 33.5
4. Melody Thornton and Alexander Demetriou – 31.0
5. Brian McFadden and Alex Murphy – 25.5
6. Jane Danson and Sylvain Longchambon – 23.5
7. Ryan Sidebottom and Brandee Malto – 22.5
8. Saira Khan and Mark Hanretty – 22.0
9. Gemma Collins and Matt Evers – 13.5

What did you think of Saara’s performance? Are you happy she’s through? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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