Ray Quinn may have won, but Donal McIntyre is the real winner

It was pretty obvious from the beginning that in terms of talent former child actor Ray Quinn was head and shoulders above the other celebrities in ITV's Dancing on Ice. His extensive dance training as well as stints as a roller blader meant he took to the ice like a duck to water (if that's an appropriate simile).

For all his technical ability he never really made an emotional connection with many of the viewers, there was no sense of a journey of achievement and even accusations of excessive smugness .

It was seemingly a procession to his anointment, which it is how it turned out. However there were real winners like Donal McIntyre who was clearly struggling on the ice in the first few week but had blossomed into a competent skater by the end of the series. This, I think, is the magic of these shows, the transformation, the ugly duckling into the beautiful swan.

Donal faced Ray in the final after former Liberty X singer, Jessica Taylor could only grab third place. Despite a competent performance in the final it was not to be.

Kudos to Donal for getting all the way to the final and showing the country what a can-do attitude can achieve.

He was equally gracious in using the opportunity to call for knighthoods for Jayne Torville and Christopher Dean, who have been overlooked for years while knighthoods are being dished out to less deserving characters like disgraced RBS boss Fred Goodwin as he hinted at.