So.....how exactly did I miss this?
The bloke dancing with her is a professional Latin American Dancer, who also happens to have won Series 5.
After the first public votes had been cast, the phone votes were added to the judges' scores and the two pairs with the lowest score – Hingis and her partner Matthew Cutler, and Crimewatch presenter Rav Wilding and his partner Aliona Vilani - had to dance their rumba again to try to save themselves.
The judge’s casting vote eventually went against the 'Swiss Miss' of tennis, who admitted afterwards that she may need more dancing lessons.
Hingis had been criticised for "flat-footed transitions between steps", but reading through some of the follow up comments, it seems many feel hers wasn't the worst performance and that what we're seeing is more of a popularity vote.
"It was a great experience, I learned so much,” Hingis said after leaving the BBC1 show. “I wish it would continue but here we are. Maybe I will come back for a few more lessons to London."
...Hingis, 29, was banned for two years by the International Tennis Federation in 2008 after testing positive for cocaine during the 2007 Wimbledon tournament.
Hingis, who declared she was innocent of the drug allegations, last month said she hoped to put the controversy behind her and saw competing on Strictly as a “new challenge”.
“I want people to see a different side to me than the person running round the tennis court,” she said after being announced as one of the celebrity contestants and vowing to win the series.(The Times)
Maybe that fleet-footedness just doesn't transition so well from the court to the dance floor.
Or maybe it is simply a popularity show after all.
I like that she gave it a shot though. Whatever else you might accuse her of, she has a presence that should have held her in good stead - at least for the opening few rounds.
And after those openers, she might even have won more public support.
Which appears essential.
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