Nova Peris makes her dancing debut, but there’s one politician she won’t ask for advice

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When Nova Peris steps retired connected Dancing with the Stars, successful a tangerine jive formal by Indigenous decorator Paul McCann depicting the Seven Sisters of the Milky Way, she volition beryllium acold from the archetypal jock to participate the personage ballroom contention and not the archetypal person either. But she is the archetypal with some credentials.

Dancing for the Nova Peris Foundation, which empowers Aboriginal radical done nutrition, cleanable water, sport, acquisition and culture, the Olympic sprinter, Hockeyroo, and erstwhile Labor legislator couldn’t walk up the accidental to practise arsenic she preaches.

“I’m 53, and I effort to support a good, steadfast lifestyle,” says Peris. “I’ve done Kokoda a fewer times. But immoderate of my radical are dying successful their aboriginal 50s – radical I went to schoolhouse with. I’m inactive precise progressive successful the public-speaking space, and I’m ever telling kids to effort caller things and ‘Don’t beryllium acrophobic of what different radical deliberation of you. Go up and bash it.’”

Former Olympian and person Nova Peris makes her Dancing with the Stars debut with creation spouse Craig Moloney.

For the 21st season, hosted by Sonia Kruger and caller Seven enlistee Dr Chris Brown, Peris is joined by 10 different celebrated faces, including actors Lisa McCune and James Stewart, vocalist Samantha Jade, MasterChef Australia’s Julie Goodwin and Hayden Quinn, exemplary Nadia Bartel, comedian Nikki Osbourne, and Adam Dovile from Better Homes and Gardens.

She had antecedently encountered chap competitors and erstwhile AFL stars Shane Crawford and Ben Cousins successful the sporting arena, and she knew a small of SAS Australia’s intimidating instructor, Ant Middleton, from erstwhile her sprinter girl Jessica appeared connected his show.

“There’s different broadside of Ant,” says Peris. “We each made ourselves precise vulnerable. As sportspeople – Shane, myself and Ben – erstwhile we competed astatine our highest, we were ne'er thinking, ‘We person to spell retired and entertain the crowd’. We travel from a antithetic mentality.”

Unsurprisingly, fixed their opposing ideologies, Peris did not question proposal from One Nation legislator Pauline Hanson, who was the archetypal person to look connected Dancing with the Stars erstwhile it launched successful 2004: “No, I don’t speech to Pauline”.

Nova Peris, with creation spouse Craig Moloney, successful her tangerine jive formal by Indigenous decorator Paul McCann.

Peris has remained progressive successful authorities since her 2016 retirement. She campaigned for the Indigenous Voice to parliament referendum and, past month, became the inaugural co-patron of Labor Friends of Israel, on with erstwhile Victorian premier Daniel Andrews.

As Australia’s archetypal Indigenous pistillate national parliamentarian, Peris is utilized to the presumption she is the inspiration for Deborah Mailman’s “captain’s pick” legislator successful ABC play Total Control.

“So overmuch truthful that you adjacent spot Deb Mailman wearing outfits which are precise akin to the outfits that I wore, with a achromatic apical with achromatic dots connected it, a pearl necklace and the remainder of it,” says Peris. “But [the series’ creators] volition archer you it’s got thing to bash with my clip successful parliament.”

Neither her sporting nor governmental backgrounds were overmuch usage successful the studio, wherever Peris undertook the “intense” nine-week grooming authorities with regular dancer Craig Moloney, who past twelvemonth partnered Christie Whelan Browne, and, successful 2007, victor Bridie Carter.

“They accidental [dancing] is the lone clip you ever usage some sides of your brain,” says Peris. “It was other hard due to the fact that I person bone-on-bone arthritis successful my close knee. Every time was painful, but I had an implicit ball. It was highly antithetic to erstwhile I was connected Australian Survivor erstwhile everyone wanted to stab you successful the back. Here, we each supported each other, and my spouse was truthful patient.”

She agrees with the communal reflection that the judges (Craig Revel Horwood, Helen Richey, Sharna Burgess and Mark Wilson) thin to spell casual connected antheral footballers. “100 per cent! There was 1 clip erstwhile 1 of the judges said, ‘I conscionable privation to leap implicit the seat and springiness you a large kiss!’ … We each had a laugh.”

Peris’ adjacent tv gig is commentating connected the Paris Olympics for Stan Sport. “Even astatine my age, I’m not getting little relevant. That’s 1 of the reasons I did [Dancing with the Stars], and to stock my motto, which is, ‘Anything is imaginable to those who spot the invisible’.”

Dancing With the Stars returns connected Sunday, July 7, astatine 7pm connected Seven.

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