Tointon treated in hospital after Strictly triumph
Strictly winner Kara Tointon danced through the pain of an arm injury last night to take the coveted glitterball trophy – only to find herself celebrating her triumph in A&E this morning.
The former EastEnder, who damaged her wrist during training, said going on to perform an acrobatic show dance was “the most painful thing I’ve ever done”.
Today the elated champion was whisked to hospital where medics revealed she had torn ligaments in her lower arm.
The 27-year-old, who is recovering at home with her arm in a sling, said she was now looking forward to spending time with dance partner Artem Chigvintsev - and hinted at a developing romance between the two.
The actress, who has previously remained tight-lipped about the nature of their relationship, said she would be having dinner with the Russian-born dancer at her parents’ home in north London.
“I think we are going to literally not go anywhere today. It’ll be quite nice,” she said. “He’s going to cook for me in my mum and dad’s kitchen. They’ve met him and they all get on so well.”
Asked whether the pair were now officially an item, she said: “Fingers crossed. We will see what happens.”
During last night’s live final, Tointon dazzled judges with a series of “first class” routines and received the highest number of public votes, pipping Countryfile’s Matt Baker to the title.
This came after psychologist Pamela Stephenson was eliminated from the BBC1 show.
Accepting her title, Tointon fought back tears and said: “It’s just the most special thing that I’ve ever achieved.”
Reflecting on her success today, an exhausted but delighted Tointon said: "I never expected it in a million years."
Quite prepared to accept the title of runner up, she described winning the show as “such a proud moment” and “the icing on the cake”.
“I found it quite hard to sleep (last night), I was on cloud nine,” she added.
Tointon and Chigvintsev drew standing ovations throughout the tense final of the ballroom competition and their performances were rewarded with a host of top marks from the judges.
Their Viennese Waltz to 'Cry Me A River' perhaps drew the most applause and prompted Craig Revel Horwood to say: “I would kill to be able to dance like that, I thought it was amazing.”
Bruno Tonioli went a step further to say: “You danced to a level that we hardly ever see here. Whatever happens, this was incredible.”
In the climax to the eighth series, the final two couples performed four routines including their highest scoring dance from the series and a “no holds barred” show dance.
It was during the latter, to Queen’s 'Don’t Stop Me Now', that Tointon felt her arm give way.
This came after hurting her wrist during rehearsals on hard wooden floors.
“Last night on the show I felt it go but we had to keep going,” she said. “It was the most painful thing I have ever done. I thought, ’oh my God, oh my God’, after the backflip, ’I can’t go on’, it was really painful.”
But the couple completed their routine and went on to receive standing ovations for the final two dances.
“I knew I had done something,” Tointon said. “I thought I might have broken something. It’s just a shame that the last two dances, I wasn’t doing them really well because of it.
But Alesha Dixon disagreed and later described her as the “most exquisite dancer I’ve ever seen on 'Strictly Come Dancing'”.
Today doctors said she had torn ligaments and sent her home with a sling and some strong painkillers.
“I went to A&E this morning. The thing I was looking forward to was a lie-in,” she joked.
Medics have said it may be six weeks before she is back in action.
Last night’s episode broke its own records drawing 14.5million viewers at its peak.
The final also saw the return of this series’ eliminated couples who took to the floor one final time along with Paloma Faith, performing a new group dance to her single 'Upside Down'.
