THE rivalries of Strictly Come Dancing look like a sedate waltz at a pensioners’ tea dance when set alongside a battle that is being played out around the ballrooms of Hong Kong.

There, a British champion and her partner are being sued for millions of pounds after he called one of their pupils a “lazy cow”.

The pupil is Mimi Monica Wong, a high-flying banker for HSBC Holdings Plc and a widow who looks a decade or more younger than her 61 years. The teachers are Gaynor Fairweather and her husband, Mirko Saccani, from Italy.

The saga in the Hong Kong High Court has lifted the lid on what goes on behind the glitter and glamour of one of the territory’s most popular pastimes.

Two years ago, Ms Wong agreed to pay Ms Fairweather and Mr Saccani HK$120 million (£8 million) for eight years of unlimited coaching and competitions. She handed over half the cash up front and was quoted as saying that she was “looking for the last bit of glory in life”.

She is now suing the couple for the return of her prepaid fees, while Ms Fairweather and Mr Saccani are countersuing for the rest of the contract money, nearly £4 million.

If the Hong Kong banker wanted to get to the top, she could hardly have chosen a better coach than Ms Fairweather. With her former partner Donnie Burns, Ms Fairweather, who is in her forties, was held to be the best female Latin American dancer the world has known. Together they won 16 professional world titles. In 1994 they were appointed MBEs for services to performing arts.

Mr Burns and Ms Fairweather split in 1999 and she began dancing and teaching with Mr Saccani, who is 31. Their partnership hit the jackpot when they acquired Ms Wong as a pupil, netting them about £3,000 a day.

Things took a wrong turn during a practice session at the Li Hua restaurant, the centre of the Hong Kong dance scene, in August 2004. Mr Burns showed up on the floor, dancing alongside Mr Saccani and Ms Wong with an amateur student of his own.

It was when Mr Burns and his student, Ling Nelson, appeared that Mr Saccani called Ms Wong a “lazy cow”. He also told her to “move your arse”.

Ms Wong claimed in court that Mr Saccani humiliated and threatened her in front of more than 50 dancers at the open practice session.

Rival dance instructors at the session testified that they heard Mr Saccani tell her: “If you do it again, Monica, I’ll smash your head against the wall.” It was also alleged that he threatened to throw her out of the window.

According to reports, Mr Saccani admitted calling Ms Wong a “lazy cow” but said it was merely a motivational technique to get her to do better. He denied having threatened her with violence. “I’m not abusive. I’m not aggressive,” he told the court.

Ms Wong’s lawyer, Simon Westbrook, said: “Mirko thought it was an opportunity to show he danced as well as the champion, but it didn’t work out.”

Some of Britain’s best championship dancers end up in Hong Kong, where there are fortunes to be made from the “tai tais”, or rich housewives. In 2003, Ms Wong won the “top gold lady” award at the Emerald Ball in Los Angeles, dancing with Mr Saccani.

BALLROOM BLITZ

Ballroom dancing is recognised by SportEngland and the International Olympic Committee, but has yet to attain Olympic medal status

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