HE may not be the judges’ favourite, but Basingstoke’s Dr Hilary Jones’ popularity with the public shows no sign of wavering after viewers again kept him in the Dancing on Ice competition.

The Hampshire Clinic GP showed some improvement on the ITV1 Sunday night show when he danced to Truly, Madly, Deeply by Savage Garden, and even managed to lift his partner Alexandra Schaumann.

But the judges’ low scores and comments failed to improve, and for the second time in three weeks, the 56-year-old was at the bottom of the scoreboard, this time with 11.5 out of 30.

Judge Jason Gardiner told him he looked stiff, slow and laboured, adding: “It’s basically the same routine every week, set to different music.”

But fellow judge Emma Bunton offered some positive feedback, admitting he had improved. She said: “You should be proud of yourself. You’re doing it for the dads out there.”

In the end, the public saved Dr Hilary – and Heather Mills became the fifth celebrity to leave the competition after losing out in the skate-off against Kieron Richardson.

This week, Dr Hilary said he has a cunning plan to improve his performance – by using special effects.

He said: “I was watching Jayne (Torvill) and Chris (Dean) perform and they have all that dry ice, and I think that’s what I need, so no one can see my feet!”

The GMTV resident doctor has even more of a challenge this week as he prepares for the first group skating performance with the remaining nine celebrities, adding to the pressure of having to learn two routines in just one week.

On Tuesday, Dr Hilary was still waiting to find out what the required element would be. He said: “We really don’t get very much time to learn it. But it’s all fun. I don’t know what the required element will be this week. I hope it’s not a jump. The only jump I will do is back into the tunnel!”