Dancing on Ice judges had to be separated after the panel reportedly squared up to one another when a heated row broke out backstage during last night's show.

The row between judges Karen Barber, Nicky Slater and Jason Gardiner erupted after Slater gave former Hear'Say singer Suzanne Shaw a low score for her ice dance routine.

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Skating off: The dream is over for Steve Backley and partner Susie Lipanova who were voted off during the skate-off between the Olympian and Coronation Street actor Zaraah Abrahams

Steve and Susie did their best to shine in the skate-off but it wasn't good enough as the judges chose to save Coronation Street's Zaraah

A ITV source revealed:"Four of them gave Suzanne really high marks, but Nicky gave four (out of six).

"They were talking quite heatedly and when it cut to a commercial break, it all kicked off.

"Karen was shouting at Nicky, Nicky was shouting, Jason got involved."

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Slater said 'there was very little skating' in Shaw's routine, and the argument was so heated that production staff had to separate the judges after they traded insults

Singer Suzanne Shaw and partner Matt Evers were at the centre of controversy after a row erupted between judges when judge Nicky Slater gave her a low score following her performance last night

Suzanne, 26 and Matt Evers won 23.5 points for a routine to Dionne Warwick's Walk on By with judge Barber calling it "the best routine of the evening" awarding them 5.5.

Actress Shaw had been suffering from a stomach bug and missed rehearsals.

But ex-British Ice Dance champion Nicky gave the routine just four marks and said: "There is very little skating on the ice."

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Chris Fountain and Frankie Poultney put on a good performance despite the latter suffering a nasty fall this week

Frankie recovered to perform well in the live show despite her nasty accident during the week when Chris dropped her on her head

According to the Sun, Production staff were forced to step in to stop the row, during which the judges could be overheard trading insults by the shocked audience, and put them into separate rooms.

The row came as Olympian Steve Backley became the latest celebrity to be voted off the show.

The javelin star, who took part in the series despite having a prosthetic hip, lost out to actress Zaraah Abrahams in a final "skate-off" between the bottom two contestants.

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Up close and personal: Linda Lusardi and partner Dan Whiston got cosy on the ice

He said: "I'm disappointed to go and there is no getting away from that. I am gutted. Having the prosthetic hip is a big deal, my stumbling block is getting over that but I am delighted to have got this far."

Although Backley lost out, the judges reserved their worst tongue-lashing for tennis player Greg Rusedski.

Jason Gardiner told him: "Greg, you have the charisma of cardboard. There is no oomph in your performance. It starts at one level and doesn't move. You are dull as dishwater."

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Fashion faux-pas: Gareth Gates with Maria Filippov in multi-coloured costumes

The injury list continued, as Chris Fountain's partner Frankie was suffering from whiplash after he accidentally dropped her on her head during practice on Friday.

But the pair managed to perform their routine, and scored 24.5.

Chris said: "This routine all week has not been sticking in my head. On Friday I nearly cracked her skull open and it's given me such a knock."

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Zaraah Abrahams and Fred Palascak managed to beat Olympian Steve in the dance-off

Greg Rusedski and Kristina Lenko impress the judges in matching purple costumes

The show had a Sixties theme and for the first time all the celebrities took to the ice together.

They had to invent their own new move as part of the show, and Jayne Torvill said she had never seen Shaw's "The Walkover" performed on the ice before.