Hide steps on dancing rift rumours

Act MP and Dancing With the Stars contestant Rodney Hide has rubbished rumours that his partner is far from swept off her feet by his moves.

Speculation has been rife that Krystal Stuart is desperate to be voted out of the competition - with claims she would much prefer to be dancing with one of the other celebrities.

But Mr Hide replied: "That's total bullshit. It's just not true. We train every day, we get on well, we know each other's families."

On his website, Mr Hide had nothing but praise for Ms Stuart, whose off-screen competition partner was Jonny Williams - Angela Bloomfield's partner this time. Mr Hide wrote: "[Krystal] is a fabulous dancer. She's also my teacher. She's very patient. She's - thankfully - got a good sense of humour."

A show insider also said she was "astonished" at the rumour. "That's an awfully mean state of affairs. I simply don't believe it."

Yesterday, Centrebet had Mr Hide at third favourite to leave the show at $10 - ahead of Lorraine Downes, at $15, and Steve Gurney, at $11. Beatrice Faumuina ($3.50) and Danyon Loader ($3.75) were favourites.

To quell further speculation, Mr Hide confirmed his earnings from the show - $500 a week while training, then $3000 a show - would go to Remuera Racquets, a squash club in his electorate."