Newshub Live at 6pm presenter Sam Hayes is competing in Dancing With The Stars NZ and with only two weeks to go, the excitement is kicking into overdrive.
Who would have thought we'd make it to week nine of Dancing with the Stars. And who would've thought we'd be able to produce a performance worthy of a perfect 10 from the judges, let alone two 10s!
- Full video: Sam Hayes scores show's first 10s with elegant contemporary
- The little known charity helping disabled kids harness their potential
I was gobsmacked and elated by the score we were given for our contemporary routine (29/30), so surprised in fact I couldn't stop shaking for quite some time. Aaron was ecstatic too, but he's since revealed his secret goal to me of getting a perfect score - three 10s - so we're back at training 24/7 to see if we can possibly do that this week. No pressure.
The highlight of my week has been the different people who have come up to us at cafes, the dance studio and on the street to talk about our contemporary routine.
It's particularly encouraging to meet little kids who love the show. We were mobbed in the studio mid-training on Wednesday night by a group of kids who wanted to get a picture with us. I loved how excited they were.
- Don't forget you can vote at any time by texting SAM to 3333 to support us and our charity, Riding For The Disabled
Those 10s have made a huge impact - we better follow it up with something equally as good.
So now it's a new week - the semi-finals! - and the slate has been wiped clean yet again. Our score has gone back to 0 and so has our vote count.
This is the last elimination before the final so now more than ever, we need your support. You can vote anytime you like, as many times as you like and net proceeds go to our charity NZ Riding for the Disabled.
Aaron and I are 100 percent committed to getting through to the final with our two dances this week. We have a cha-cha and tango and I can't wait to show you what we've put together.
The tango is the dance I've wanted to do all competition so I'm thrilled we're finally giving it a shot. Although once again, some of the moves Aaron has choreographed into our routine are very tricky so we're putting in as many extra hours as we can before showtime.
Make sure you tune in on Sunday at 7pm, Monday at 7:30pm, and fingers crossed we'll see you again at the final on July 1.
Oh and if you're missing me from Newshub Live at 6pm, I'm sorry, I miss you too! I'm clocking up the hours at the dance studio and will be back to normal as soon as we win this mirror ball trophy.
Watch the video for a behind-the-scenes sneak peek at our Dancing With The Stars rehearsals for our top-scoring contemporary dance and our upcoming tango and cha-cha.
