Kara Tointon calls final dance ‘car crash’ as nasty injury wrecked Strictly win

Kara Tointon has recalled her Strictly Come Dancing final dance as a “car crash” as she endured a painful injury just hours before her performance.

The former EastEnders star, 37, lifted the Glitterball Trophy with pro dance partner Artem Chigvintsev back in 2010, but said there was more to the final than viewers saw at home.

Kara was forced to dance through the second half of the final with a torn ligament in her arm.

She managed to do her best to ignore the pain as she and Artem a stunning Waltz and American Smooth.

She hurt her arm earlier in the night during her energetic performance to Queen’s Don’t Stop Me Now with Artem.

But despite winning the entire dance competition, Kara has dubbed her final dance nothing short of a “car crash”.

Speaking exclusively to Mirror Online, the Mr Selfridge star confessed: “I always get a little bit upset about my final.

“You are meant to get better every week, but I had quite a bad injury in the final the day before, I pulled some ligaments in my arm.

“On the day of the final, I was in quite a lot of pain. So my final dance was a bit of a car crash. It was just awful because I couldn’t really move.”

She added: “When I watch it back, I cringe at the final. But all the other weeks I remember very fondly.”

The injury saw Kara be rushed to hospital following her monumental win.

She was also told to rest for six weeks after the fact, and had to attend physiotherapy sessions for her arm to fully recover.

Although this year masks exactly a decade since Kara lifted the iconic Glitterball Trophy, she still remembers her time on the hit BBC1 dance show.

And when quizzed on who she thinks we’ll be seeing on this year’s final, Kara says she’s got a pretty good idea of who she’s rooting for.

She revealed: “The line-up is looking great, I’m a massive Caroline Quentin fan so I’ll be rooting for her.”

And the star gave some sage advice to this year’s contestants, saying: “I always say to anyone who does it – because it’s something that people are going to ask you about for a long time – just enjoy it and don’t take it too seriously because it’s not the Olympics.

“It’s a bit of fun, and I think people at home like to see you take it on in the right way and have a laugh and enjoy it.

“But also, you also get to learn this skill, I mean when in life would you ever get that opportunity? So it’s just brilliant. I love it.”

Aside from her acting ventures, Kara revealed she’s now shifting her focus onto charitable causes.

She told us: “I was asked to be the spokesperson for Remember a Charity Week and through my Tell app we have started working with charities.

“I have charities that I work very closely with and am an ambassador for, and they range from really small charities to big ones.”

Kara is working with Remember A Charity Week, an annual awareness week which aims to encourage people to leave a gift to charity in their Will. To find out more or to take part, please visit  www.rememberacharity.org.uk

*Strictly Come Dancing returns to BBC One this Autumn.

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