After coming very close to leaving the show last week, Mark and Jennfier are determined to put on a better performance this week.

Tyrone Today reports

Mark told the TIMES he hopes to be better tomorrow (Saturday, April 22).
“I felt very disappointed to be one of the last couples. I surely never expected to go this far but now I really want to stay in the dance mansion up until the end of the programme.”
Waiting for the final results, Mark’s mother Linda Williamson, who was in the audience, told the TIMES how nervous she was.
“I was covering my face with my hands, I didn’t want to watch what was coming next. I think they danced very well but while part of me knew they were going to stay in the mansion, another part of me was thinking what if they get evicted.”
Thanks to the public’s vote, the Fivemiletown man and his partner are now rehearsing for Saturday’s programme.
“For this week’s performance we are learning the tango and it is very difficult but my partner is great,” said Mark.
He added: “We have very busy days, starting at 9am with ballet. Then we have directed time with the choreographer and we prepare the routines for the weekend. Usually we work up until 10 or 11pm.”

Supports
Mark admitted it is a very difficult experience but he is delighted to be in the mansion.
“There is a great atmosphere. It is a very hard and nerve-breaking competition but we all get on very well.
“We support each other and there is no nastiness.”
The Fivemiletown dancer hopes that this experience will help him in his career.
“Being part of the programme is such an achievement for me. Hopefully this will help me in my career because I am determined to be a professional dancer.”
Last Saturday Mark and Jennifer were the second couple to rock. The babies in the Mansion, as they are now known, jived on McFly’s hit, Five Colours in Her Hair and got a final score of 24.
“I think the judges were helpful. They told them what is going wrong and what to improve,” said Linda.
She added: “They obviously know what they are talking about and the best thing Jennifer and Mark have to do is to follow their advice.”
On the BBC website, however, the public’s views on the different performances are mixed.
Some viewers think the public made a big mistake in sending Clive and Helga home.
“They better performed than JP and Stacey, Paul and Aravon and Mark and Jenny,” said one email.
Another comment said: “Helga and Clive did not deserve to go. What is wrong with the British public? Mark and Jennifer were far worse as were JP and Stacey.”

A great future
However the couple also have a lot of supporters. Some of them described Mark as ” a brilliant dancer as well as a singer”.
Some fans are amazed at the couple’s level of dancing, considering they are the youngest couple in the mansion.
As for others, Mark is definitely the best-looking dancer of the competition.
“Mark is actually the only reason I watch this programme. Yummy, yummy, yummy!”
Mark was selected for the TV programme at the end of January when he melted one of the judges’ hearts at the Belfast audition. Former Hot Gossip dancer and choreographer Arlene Phillips said Mark was “an amazing dancer” and she thinks he has “a great future in dance”.
“I hadn’t planned on auditioning,” said Mark.
“I was going with a friend and I decided to try it on the day.”
Particularly interested in ballet, hip hop and cha cha, Mark has been dancing for ten years and he is currently undertaking a BTEC National Diploma in Dance at Belfast Institute for Further and Higher Education.
On Saturday, the judges’ decisions will make 50 per cent of the final score while viewers will make up for the other half of the voting.
Mark would like to take this opportunity to thank the people who “kept (him] in”.
He added: “It’s hard-work but I have a great time and I want to prove people they were right to vote for me and Jennifer.”
The number to phone to vote for Mark and Jennifer is 0901 121 2402, call costs 25p.