TONI BRAXTON'S GLAD THAT SHE WAS BOOTED FROM DANCING WITH THE STARS!

Grammy Award-winning singer TONI BRAXTON is quietly glad her stint on U.S. reality TV show DANCING WITH THE STARS has come to an end - because she was struggling to cope with the demands of the program. The Unbreak My Heart hitmaker, who suffers from heart and respiratory issues, was voted off the hit show on Tuesday night (21Oct08), despite scoring a respectable 22 out of 30 from the show's judges.

But Braxton has hinted that producers, who feared for her health, may have had the last word when it came to who should be ejected. She says, "The show you see... we do it earlier (and) I was getting chronically fatigued and I think the judges and the producers knew that. "(I have) microvascular angina and it falls under the umbrella of a heart attack... like, 27 per cent of my heart doesn't get enough oxygen... I have a tightness (on the show) sometimes... I'm always sitting there, smiling and trying to dance." But, given the chance, Braxton wouldn't hesitate to return to the dancing show - because her fancy footwork has helped her strengthen her weak heart.

She explains, "My heart is much healthier. When I started at the beginning of the competition, I remember breathing (heavily), but now my breathing is more controlled. Dancing is good for the heart." Braxton admits she had to fight with her doctors to appear on the show in the first place, just three months after a major health scare landed her in hospital. She adds, "The doctors all got together in a room - but they said it could be a good thing, and if you don't feel well, drop out.
"I have to be honest. This show has made me feel so much better. It's healing my heart."