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By Richard Barber
Leading the way: Tina Humphrey with her dancing dog, ChandiTina lowers her eyelids when I suggest it might be a TV project. We are sitting in the front room of her detached house near Shrewsbury.
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The room is dominated by three baskets: one where Britain's most famous dancing dog catches up on her sleep; the other two piled high with cuddly toys.
Chandi ambles over and plonks a wet nose in my hand. She is sporting a rather dashing neckerchief in brilliant fuchsia, edged with glass studs.
TV Hit: Tina and Chandi appear on Britain's Got Talent As the Britain's Got Talent convoy trundles around the UK and Ireland on tour, there is one act absent from the bus shuttling the excited finalists between gigs.
Where is Chandi the dancing dog, and her crisply-spoken owner Tina Humphrey? They're in the show, but travel in a chauffeur-driven car.
'It would be far too noisy for Chandi on the bus,' says no-nonsense Tina, who only the night before had been called by her new agent with an offer which would make her and Chandi his highest earning clients.
Tina can envisage a line of doggie scarves in a range of colours and Chandi cuddly toys. Then there's the possibility of books and branded dog food, 'although it would have to be strictly organic'.
The 37-year-old music teacher is far from being your typical BGT contestant. An Oxford graduate - she got a 2:1 in the history of music - she's petite and pretty, but with a streak of steel.
When Simon Cowell suggested on TV that perhaps it was time for the 11-year-old Chandi to slip into graceful retirement, Tina shot back with: 'Oh, there's life in the old dog yet.'
There is no man in Tina's life - 'there's my other half ', she says, pointing to the adoring Chandi.
While Tina was sitting her finals, her mother, Diane, was diagnosed with breast cancer. Tina stayed at home to look after her, teaching piano and violin - still does two mornings a week.
Her father, Brian, a former BBC sound engineer, also succumbed to cancer. Tina's bond with Chandi is all the deeper for these losses.
'On the day I went to the local pound to choose a dog, Chandi was brought in. 'We think we're in charge of our own destiny, but we're not. Chandi and I took one look at each other and that was it. We are at the very centre of each other's worlds.'
Her first rescue dog had been a stray she named Pepper. Tina trained her and they won prizes in dog agility shows together.
Chandi, whom she acquired in 1998, also proved a natural. Tina has cabinets groaning with trophies and in 2007 auditioned for BBC1's When Will I Be Famous? hosted by Graham Norton.
'We won our heat and £10,000,' says Tina.
It was money sorely needed because Pepper was now ill. 'All our winnings went towards trying to save her life.'
The BGT exper ience proved exhausting. 'On the Monday after it ended, I was tearful all day,' says Tina. 'It had been such an overwhelming experience, the focus of my life for six months since my first audition just before Christmas.'
There have been whisperings that Tina's protective demands for Chandi were turning her into a diva.
'Rubbish,' she says robustly. 'All I asked for was a separate dressing room, so that Chandi could have some peace and quiet and a fan to keep her cool.'
And what about the suggestions that they had no right to be on the show in the first place, because Chandi is an established showbiz dog?
Tina snorts indignantly. 'She's no more a showbiz dog than I'm a showbiz person,' she says.
For the BGT tour details and to book tickets, visit itv.com/talent
PS. Kate and Gin did OK. Just ask Oprah
Kate Nicholas with GinTwo years before Tina and Chandi, another novelty dog act reached the BGT final.
So,what happened to student Kate Nicholas and her farm collie, Gin?
‘I left my animal management studies early because I was in such demand after the show,’ says Kate, now 18, who has another Collie, a two-year-old called Ice
‘We’ve done Butlins and arenas all over the country. We work almost every day and make a good living out of it.’
Kate has been to America twice with Gin, appearing on TV programmes, including Oprah, and in a dog bed commercial.
source :dailymail, youtube
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