RYAN Thomas has broken his silence following his Dancing On Ice triumph with a hugely-emotional message.
The ex Coronation Street actor, 39, scooped the title in Sunday’s nail-biting ITV live final, beating Radio 1 DJ Adele Roberts, 45, and Made In Chelsea star Miles Nazaire, 28.
The contestants were slimmed down after Olympian Greg Rutherford, 37, was forced to pull out hours before the live show.
Despite the show triumph fans were quick to call a “fix” – with fans claiming the result was “rigged” – and now Ryan has spoken out.
The ITV star took to Instagram to share an adorable image with fiancee Lucy Mecklenburgh, his eldest daughter Scarlett and his brothers Scott and Adam.
The Thomas brothers were recently dubbed the “kings” of reality TV after the trio dominated across a number of top telly shows.
They were joined by Adam’s wife and kids as well as their mum and his skate partner Amani Fancy.
In the caption, Ryan gushed: “The real trophy is my family.
“Thank you to everyone @dancingonice it was the hardest challenge I’ve ever had to do but it’s the people who made it so special for me, in front & behind the camera.
“I have to give a massive thank you to all the pros/coaches/celebs for making me feel part of there family, on & off the ice. I honestly couldn’t of done it without your support.
“My biggest thank you has be to everyone who voted, you are the real reason I made it to the final.
“I’m forever grateful for all your support.”
Ryan was paired with newcomer Amani on her debut on the UK series, and, on the night of the Dancing On Ice final, he thanked her for getting him to the series finale.
The TV star said: “I’m speechless!”
He continued: “I just can’t, it’s Amani, I’m happy for her because she’s put so much hard work in with me.”
Later posting on Instagram, Ryan thanked his fans for keeping him in the competition and flagged the kindness of strangers in particular.
He wrote: “Thank you to everyone that votes, sends messages.
“I read & think how lucky I am to be liked by people I’ve never even met before, there’s a lot to be said for just people being kind, it really makes a difference.”
It comes after fans were convinced he would take the title – before the show even aired – due to one key clue.
Taking to Reddit, they claimed he had the advantage of the support of a slew of loyal soap fans after playing Jason Grimshaw in Corrie.
One mused: “Getting the Corrie fans vote, he should have gone weeks ago when he fell over.”
Back in Musicals Week, Ryan suffered a painful fall as he smashed onto the ice.
He was also was forced to apologise after dropping partner Amani the week prior.
