Dunblane backing me, says Judy

Judy Murray said she hopes her appearances on Strictly Come Dancing have brought “a bit of excitement” to Dunblane.

Murray said nobody would ever forget Thomas Hamilton’s 1996 gun massacre but she felt the way her home town had recovered was “remarkable”.

Hamilton killed 16 children and a teacher at Dunblane Primary School and injured many more. Murray’s two tennis star sons, Jamie and Andy, were both pupils at the school at the time but were not injured.

“You never forget because we still live in the town but the way the town has recovered from that is quite remarkable,” she told ITV chat show Loose Women.

“And the success that Jamie and Andy have had with their tennis has brought a lot of excitement to the town and now I’m bringing a bit of excitement to them as well.

“I think the whole of Dunblane is voting for me.”

Viewer votes have kept Murray on Strictly despite repeatedly receiving a drubbing from the judges who have given her low scores.

“Every week I think I’m going, every week, because I’m always at the bottom two or three of the judges’ comments,” she said.

But the tennis coach, who has stayed in the show long enough to be able to dance in Blackpool next week, said she does not mind the judges’ criticisms and is only competitive with herself.

“With Strictly I’m not competitive at all with anybody else. I just want to get a little bit better every week. I love the show so having the chance to be part of it, for me it’s all fun and so I don’t care what anybody throws at me. I’m just having a good time.”

Shesaid heryoungerson, Andy, finds it hard to listen to the judges’ barbed comments.