Snowboarder Torah Bright says her stunning Dancing With the Stars performance was inspired by her divorce

Australian Olympic gold medallist, Torah Bright, surprised audiences with her stunning Dancing With The Stars performance after being criticised last week.

And the 27-year-old snowboarder has her divorce to thank for her success- choosing to dance to the song she says helped her through the separation, Katy Perry's uplifting track 'Roar'.

Speaking to Sydney Confidential Torah opened up about her split, saying 'getting divorced was the best decision I ever made.'

Raised in a strict Mormon house, Torah married fellow Mormon and pro snowboarder, Jake Welsh, in 2010

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But the attractive blonde, who is Australia's most successful female winter Olympian, split with her partner three years later- and now says, ' 'Life is grand. You make a decision at one point in your life which feels right. We are here to be happy and you make choices to be happy.'

The snowboarding champion - who divides her time between Cooma, Thredbo and Salt Lake City- said the song 'Roar' is special to her because she relied on it to uplift her when she 'was barely surviving in a marriage that ended'

The powerful lyrics from Katy Perry, who like Torah, split from her husband Russell Brand, inspired Torah and partner Robbie Kmetoni to dance their way to an astonishing 35 points out of 40 - a big jump from the low score of just 15 points the week before.

For the Roar performance, Torah chose a short gold dress and executed turns and leaps to the lyrics 'I used to bite my tongue and hold my breath, scared to rock the boat and make a mess'.

Shedding a tear after the routine, host Daniel McPherson congratulated Torah and Robbie, saying 'You got the first standing ovation of 2014! You got me crying!'

Explaining her connection to the music, Torah said, 'I first heard this song a few months before Sochi (Winter Olympics).

'I was in a marriage that was ending, I lost a friend on the half pipe doing what I do.’

She said the song's power gave her the courage to keep fighting, telling partner Robbie that it even helped her comeback for the previous week's poorly-received dance when the dup performed the foxtrot.

'How appropriate to perform it with you after last week,' she said.

The contemporary routine wowed the crowd, with the other contestants in the green room chanting 'Ten! Ten!' to the judges scoring the routine.

Torah, now single, remains a devout Mormon and is one of ten celebrities fighting it out to be crowned the winner of 2014's Dancing With The Stars after the elimination of model Ashley Hart.
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