The Hour

Tina Humprey has always loved performing, she was bitten by the showbiz bug when she was just six years old and played the piano on Jim’ll Fix It. Since then music has always been a big part of her life.

She said: “I have always loved performing, it’s an absolute dream come true for me to have gotten so far on Britain’s Got Talent.”

Tina put her musical talent together with her skill for canine training and started dancing with dogs. This led her to become Heelwork to Music and Freestyle champions at Crufts with her dog Chandi, in the first year the Freestyle category was introduced. Tina and Chandi are true pioneers in their field.

Tina and Chandi make a great team and Chandi loves performing, she even invented some of the distinctive moves in their routines herself.

Tina said: “She never gets stage fright, she loves performing. You can see that by the sparkle in her eye and the waggy tail.”

Even with the past experience of performing in front of a lot of people and with an important prize at stake, Tina felt Britain’s Got Talent was the hardest thing they have ever done.

She said: “I think it was of the most pressured performances and experiences of our entire lives. Just trying to reach the final was our goal, to actually win our semi-final and get to the final was amazing.”

Chandi is a rescue dog, a point that Tina is anxious to stress. As it proves that any dog who is adopted, and given a second chance in life, can be a star. Her connection to Chandi makes training that much easier, though she is not sure why its been such a winning combination.

She said: “I don’t know if it’s the training or the dog or a combination of both. It could be a good trainer and a good dog, it’s hard to tell.”

Tina was so happy to make it through to the final, and that Chandi had touched so many lives. This was made evident by the immense number of viewers that voted for them.

Tina said: “I was just completely and utterly overwhelmed and we’re so grateful to everybody who picked up the phone and voted for us, and have continued to support us. It literally moves me to tears when I think about it.”

The dancing duo is now travelling the country with the Britain’s Got Talent Live Tour, and having a great time. Even though it is quite a tough schedule Tina is proud of Chandi’s determination.

She said: “I thought that we would hate it [going on tour] but we absolutely love it. Getting up and performing sometimes twice a day she is just getting it done and sparkling on every performance, we haven’t had a duff performance yet. She’s having a ball.”

Chandi is such a superstar that she doesn’t even have to travel on the tour bus, she and Tina have their own car and driver to chauffeur them around. There is no problem with staying hotels either as she is so well known she is welcomed wherever she goes.

As for the future Tina and Chandi are sure to be around for a while. They have so many fans from their great performances on every show, and they are sure to win over more on their current tour. They are a pair to watch out for.

Tina said: “We have a few interesting offers in the pipeline but nothing definite yet, let’s wait and see.”

The Britain’s Got Talent Live Tour is in Glasgow SECC on July 8 and Edinburgh Playhouse July 9