Throng

Provisional amounts have shown that $433,053.81 was raised for charity this year in TV ONE’s hit show Dancing With The Stars.

Dancing With The Stars winner Tamati Coffey's chosen charity, Rainbow Youth, will receive a record amount from the series, $259,990.79. UpsideDowns Education Trust, the charity represented by 2009 series runner-up Barbara Kendall, will receive $99,009.02 and semi-finalist Josh Kronfeld's charity, Koru Care Otago, will receive $37,276.01.

Geraldine Brophy's charity, Arthritis New Zealand, will receive $24,795.53; Rebecca Hobbs' New Zealand Spinal Trust $6,664.74; Chris Hobbs' Ronald McDonald House $3,256.69; John Rowles' Project Hope Foundation 1,425.81; and Lizzy Igasan's Go Red For Women (The National Heart Foundation of NZ) $635.22.

The money was collected through the public-vote mechanism in Dancing With The Stars.*

Jeff Latch, TVNZ Head of Television, says "Dancing With The Stars has once again shown its ability to appeal to New Zealanders of all ages, and Kiwis have shown their willingness to support celebrities raising money for their chosen charities, even in challenging times.

"In its fifth year, Dancing With The Stars continues to be a success. We'd like to thank all those involved in the show for their incredible commitment and enthusiasm, everyone who watched the series, and all those who voted."

Dancing With The Stars has now raised more than $1.75 million for New Zealand charities.

Dancing With The Stars is a BBC Worldwide format.

* After telecommunications and service provider charges are taken out of the cost of voting, all remaining money goes to the contestants' nominated charities. Neither TVNZ nor BBC Worldwide retains any money from the viewers' votes. The text and phone votes are tallied up by an independent service aggregator company, not TVNZ or the series producers. The voting system is based on the international format for Dancing With The Stars, and combines 50 per cent of the judges' vote and 50 per cent of the viewers' vote to give the final result.