Newshub Live at 6pm presenter Samantha Hayes is competing in Dancing With The Stars NZ and in week four, disaster struck only hours before she was set to take the stage.
So, about that rumba...
Aaron and I were over the moon to get the top score of the competition so far with a 9, 8, 9 from the judges, giving us a total of 26 and taking us to the top of the leaderboard for Week Four.
Phew! What a relief!
We worked really hard on our rumba all week, but it's a dance about love and I knew I was going to have a tough time making it look sexy and sensual and convincing the judges who had been quite tough on me the last couple of weeks.
- Full video: Sam Hayes stuns judges with sultry rumba
- Dancing With The Stars NZ: Sam Hayes overcomes struggle with samba
So, it was time to bring in the big guns - actor, director, producer and all round genius Madeleine Sami from The Breaker Upperers.
Thankfully, she agreed to come in to coach me and it definitely did the trick!
- You can vote for me and my charity by texting SAM to 3333 anytime. Net proceeds go to New Zealand Riding For The Disabled.
The judges said they loved our performance (finally!) and I also, for the first time, managed to let myself get lost in the dance and enjoy the moment, rather than letting it overwhelm and terrify me.
We did have one little hiccup along the way though. Just before the live show on Sunday, the dress I was supposed to wear had, let's say, malfunctioned and I quickly needed to find a replacement.
I phoned my brother, who was coming to watch, and he picked up the one dress I had at home that I thought could be rumba-appropriate. Moments before we went live with the Sunday night show I threw it on.
Thankfully, we weren't performing until Monday night as it needed a few modifications.
While the wonderful wardrobe team got to work taking up the hem and finding the all-important undergarments, Aaron showed off a new skill. He spent most of Monday adding hundreds of beautiful little rhinestones to the dress. With a little teamwork - problem solved.
It ended up being the perfect dress for the job. Big thanks to the wardrobe team for all their efforts.
Aaron and I were also super stoked to win Move of the Week, because it means an extra $500 for our charity NZ Riding For The Disabled (NZRDA). We're working hard to make sure we keep coming back each week for NZRDA and we want to raise as much money and support for them as we possibly can.
But now we're onto week five and that means we're starting from scratch all over again. We've got a completely different dance this week so make sure you tune in to see how we get on.
Watch the video for a behind-the-scenes look at our Dancing With The Stars rehearsals for the rumba.
