Kristi Yamaguchi came into the “Dancing With the Stars” finale with a perfect score and left with the mirrorball trophy.
Her victory over pro football star Jason Taylor broke the string of four consecutive male winners. The figure-skating champion was the first woman to claim the “Dancing” crown since the show's opening season.
“This is just the icing on the cake,” Yamaguchi said after her victory Tuesday night. “I honestly thank all the fans out there . . . everyone who's made this a dream experience.”
Said Taylor: “I never, ever thought I would get to this point.”
“Kristi is so deserving,” he said.
Each of the season's celebrity contestants returned to the ballroom for the season final.
STAR TREK'S GEORGE TAKEI TO WED LONGTIME PARTNER
George Takei said he will wed his longtime partner and business manager, Brad Altman, now that the California Supreme Court has legalized same-sex marriage. Takei, the original Mr. Sulu on “Star Trek,” said on his Web site that he and Altman have shared their lives for more than 21 years and are “overjoyed” to be able to legally marry. Takei, who also had a recurring role on NBC's “Heroes” last year, said he and Altman are planning the details of their wedding.
HEATHER MILLS NOT IN COURT; PHOTOGRAPHER WINS APPEAL
A photographer convicted of assaulting Heather Mills won an appeal yesterday because Mills didn't attend a court hearing. Jay Kaycappa had been sentenced to 140 hours of community service for allegedly grabbing Mills by her shoulder and taking her photograph in 2006. A prosecutor told the court in Lewes, England, that Mills, the estranged wife of ex-Beatle Paul McCartney, wasn't available for the hearing, and that he believed she was somewhere in the United States. However, Judge Richard Brown said he had received a document from a doctor saying Mills was suffering from stress. Mills and McCartney were granted a preliminary decree of divorce last week, and a final decree could be granted by the end of next month.
LINDSAY LOHAN SUED OVER MINK COAT WORN IN PHOTO
New York City college student has sued Lindsay Lohan, claiming the “Mean Girls” star took her mink coat without permission and kept it for more than two weeks. Maria Markova said in a lawsuit filed Monday that Lohan, 21, took the $12,000 golden sheared mink coat while in the nightclub 1 Oak on Jan. 26. Markova's lawyer said Lohan had been sitting next to her client, and the next time she saw her coat, Lohan was wearing it in a photo in OK! magazine. The lawsuit, filed in Manhattan's state Supreme Court, asks unspecified damages.
– COMPILED FROM NEWS SERVICE REPORTS
