Sorry, Mum! Roger's Fall From Grace

Down but not out, he has a secret weapon.

- Amy Nelmes Bissett

It was the moment that caused the nation to take a collective gasp, with Roger Farrelly tumbling to the floor with his partner Carol-Ann Hickmore on Dancing with the Stars.

At home in Papamoa in the Bay of Plenty, Rog’s biggest fan, his mum Carolynn, was staring at the TV screen in horror as her son ended his quick-step splayed on the dance floor.

The 67-year-old part-time gardener tells Woman’s Day, “I was watching it with my daughter and son-in-law, and we all went, ‘No!’ We were holding our breaths. It was horrible. I couldn’t believe it as they were almost at the finish. They only had a few more steps to go and then it was this big crash.”

The Rock radio DJ – who has been hosting The Morning Rumble for the past 24 years and was last year named New Zealand’s Hottest Radio Hunk by Woman’s Day readers – admits it was the finale to what had been an extremely challenging week on the show.