Newshub Live at 6pm presenter Sam Hayes is competing in Dancing With The Stars NZ and in week eight, things are ramping up.
I can't believe we're already into week eight of the show - the time is absolutely flying by and we're so close to the final! I honestly never expected to make it this far, but now we have the final firmly in our sights I'm determined to get there and raise as much money as possible for our charity. Firstly though, we need to get through this week - and it's proving to be our biggest challenge yet.
Aaron and I have been given contemporary dance this week. I had no idea what that actually was initially. Now I can best sum it up by saying if you had trained as a ballerina and gymnast your whole life, then you would love doing this dance. Given I have no prior dance or gymnastics experience this routine is, well… a tad tricky.
- Sam Hayes dominates with powerful Paso Doble
- The little known charity helping disabled kids harness their potential
Nevermind those minor details, we're going to attempt some pretty cool stuff - bringing back the hands-free cartwheel from our samba (which the judges never even mentioned!) and a move I've nicknamed the "ridiculous backbend". Trying these moves in rehearsal is one thing, whether we can pull them off on the night is another beast entirely - so I'm already feeling nervous about our dance this week.
- Sam Hayes nails cartwheel in energetic samba
- Don't forget you can vote at any time by texting SAM to 3333 to support us and our charity, Riding For The Disabled
But that's not all we've had to contend with - in week eight the judges are no longer content with just one dance. They want two. So on top of our contemporary routine we have to do ANOTHER dance... as a group! With two other couples!
We're going to be judged on it just like our regular dances and that score will be added to our individual score, leading into the dance-off elimination.
I can't tell you who the other couples are just yet, but I promise you, you won't want to miss this one.
This team dance is taking up valuable time we would usually spend on our normal dance, so despite running low on energy, we're squeezing in even more training - around 7-8 hours a day now (plus the news) - to make sure we nail it this weekend.
Thank you so much for all your support - we really appreciate everyone who's texted in to support us and NZ Riding for the Disabled.
In case it all goes terribly wrong (and even if we do manage to pull off a miracle) we are going to need your support to get through this week so please don't forget to vote, and make sure you tune in this Sunday at 7pm on Three to see whether I can pull off the ridiculous backbend - and which celebrities I also have to dance with.
Watch the video for a behind-the-scenes sneak peek at our Dancing With The Stars rehearsals for our upcoming contemporary dance.
