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By JODY THOMPSON
Fury: Karen Barber stormed up to Jason Gardiner and accused him of being 'offensive' after his personal slur on her
Dancing On Ice stars Karen Barber and Jason Gardiner almost came to blows tonight after the judge slated the head coach's expertise.
Karen, 49, was seen with tears streaming down her face after Johnson Beharry VC failed to get the points she felt he deserved during his routine on the Las Vegas themed show.
Beharry, 31, had revealed that a friend of his was in the audience who he hadn't seen in five years since they'd convalesced together in hospital, where the hero was recovering from the serious head injuries he'd sustained in Iraq.
Karen said she felt the judges had marked him too low, to which Jason snapped back: 'If your opinion still mattered you'd be on the panel.'
Hero: Johnson Beharry VC revealed it had been an emotional night for him as a fellow injured veteran who hadn't seen for five years was in the audienceA furious Karen left her seat with the celebrity contestants and stormed up to the Australian, jabbing her finger in his face and demanding he repeat what he'd just said.
Her voice quavering, she went right up to his face and said: 'You know Jason, you really are so offensive. You bring so little to this panel.
Posting in the hour-long break between shows, contestant Jeff Brazier Tweeted: 'Can you believe I got up and went to the loo just before Jason went for Karen, I would have had to of stepped in!! She was really upset...'
Unfair: Karen wipes a tear away after Johnson Beharry scored low marks from the judgesShow host Phillip Schofield was initially left shocked by the confrontation, and could only managed a 'Strewth!' to camera.
However, he soon made a joke of it, saying: 'We've added a new dimension to the competition - a fight! No not really. It's Vegas night.'
But when the show resumed after the scheduled break, Karen's chair remained empty, fuelling speculation that she'd stormed out of the studio.
She did return and Jason gave a half-hearted apology at the start of the second half of the show, but Karen wouldn't accept it and held up her hands to say she'd heard enough, calling him a 'nasty,
Themed: The show had a Las Vegas theme last night - a city famous for staging big fights 
Missed it: Jeff Brazier Tweeted that he'd missed the confrontation as he'd nipped to the toilet
Relationships between the pair have become increasingly icy since Karen was taken off the judging panel to become the contestants' head coach.
The face-off wasn't the only shock of the night either - one of the show's early favourites, 27-year-old Jennifer Metcalfe, found herself in the bottom two with Vanilla Ice after the public vote and was voted off by the judges in the skate-off.
The former Hollyoaks star, who found love on the ice with French partner Sylvain Longchambon, was so devastated she could barely speak.
Talent: But despite impressive moves like this, Jennifer was voted off the show
Choked: Jennifer became overcome with emotion after being voted off the showBefore announcing the result, Phillip said that even he had found the results of the phone votes surprising.
He said:'We hate this. Shock result tonight.'
After the judges all chose Vanilla Ice over her, Jennifer managed to get out: 'I just wanted to get further for him...' before choking up.
However, on an earlier VT, she'd said: 'I've enjoyed every single minute of it. He's the most perfect coach. I feel amazing on the ice with him.I know now that I can learn anything I want to if I put my mind to it. Ice skating just feels like me, like I'm home. I'm going to continue.'
Shock exit: Despite being solidly in the middle of theJudges' Leaderboard, Jennifer found herself in the bottom two with Vanilla Ice after the public voteJennifer had skated to Cher's If I Could Turn Back Time, wearing a sheer costume in the style of the singer and with her hair in similar dark curls.
All the contestants this week had their first skills test and had to complete a steps sequence on their own - which left many with the wobbles.
Kerry Katona was shown almost quitting the show as she had a meltdown in training that she couldn't manage the task.
But despite landing at the bottom of the leaderboard, viewers at home kept the former Atomic Kitten star out of the bottom two.
Confidence crisis: Kerry Katona had a meltdown during her training this week saying she couldn't manage teh step sequence 
Battle: Kerry said that although she knew she didn't have as much talent as some of the other contestants, she was 'having a ball' on the iceKerry confessed that she didn't have the talent of many of her competitors, but insisted she was thoroughly enjoying her time on the rink.
She said: 'I'm nowhere near as good as the rest of them, but I am having a ball. This is more than a skating show for me. I'm not the best skater, but I'm here for the journey and the entertainment value.'
Judge Emma Bunton agreed, saying: 'You look so pretty tonight. but I think the step sequence has really exposed you tonight. You're such a sweetheart but the others are so far ahead of you now.'
Jason Gardiner offensive comments on Dancing On Ice 2011 to Karen Barber
source: dailymail [endtext]
